The Wheels of the Bus go Up and Down

One of the surprising things about Kindergarten whe we live, is that the Kindergarten kids ride the bus.  Those of you who don't have kids are probably thinking that's not a big deal.  Those of you who have older kids are probably thinking that's not a big deal.  But to a mom of an only child who just turned 5 in May, this is a big deal.  It means that in the morning, I put my five year old on a school bus and for the next half hour she is somewhere in the void.  Okay, maybe not the void....but my imagination is ripe and I am a teensy bit anxious about these things.

At the school assembly they assured us that our Kindergartners would have no problem with the buses.  They would color code the buses and color code the kids hands with markers just to make sure.  They would give the Kindergarten kids name tags for the first two weeks to differentiate them from the older kids.  It was the Leave No Kindergartner Behind bus program.  I was on board.

Last week went fine, despite the fact that Turtle rides one bus in the morning and a different bus coming home.  She seemed to enjoy hanging out and chatting with the other kids and always came bounding off the bus full of stories.  So I'm waiting at the bus stop for her today, talking to the other moms and waiting for the bus.  The bus pulls off and the line is forming of kids to disembark.  I don't see Turtle.  I scan the line.  No Turtle.  I scan the bus.  No Turtle.  I peek inside the bus.  No Turtle.  I ask our neighbor's girls as they are coming off the bus "Where's Turtle?"  "I dunno" they say "I think she got on the red bus maybe?"

Panic.  My child, my five year old, my baby who still has cheeks that make you want to gnaw on them is NOT ON THE BUS.  After a few minutes of frantic phone calls, they locate Turtle.  Yes, she is indeed on the red bus.  Fifteen minutes later, the bus pulls up and lets off it's lone occupant, Turtle.  Here's the story the bus driver told me:

They were driving the route, Turtle happily chatting up her new neighbors.  The bus got to our bus stop and turned left (since it wasn't our bus) instead of stopping.  At that point Turtle jumps out of her seat and yells "You just passed my stop!  I'm freaking out back here!  Am I on the wrong bus?"  The bus driver calms her down and tells her that she will get her back to her stop.  So Turtle says "Phew.  Mommy would be so worried." and then proceeds to tell the other kids "This is not my usual bus so we probably won't be seeing each other again until we're all adults.  It's been nice talking to you, but I'm not supposed to be on this bus."  Then she waves at the bus driver as she gets off and says "Thank you for getting me home safely.  I was really worried fora minute."

Although I had a few moments of worry, I'm so glad to know that Turtle can take care of herself and make new friends while doing it.