Firsts

Yesterday was my first baby's, first day of kindergarten.

I am still not sure how i feel about it in all honesty. It's like letting go of a balloon and watching it float away. It seems like it takes forever to disappear into the sky but in reality it only takes seconds. That is the closets i can get to explaining how i felt yesterday.

He finally gets to ride the school bus which excited him more than anything. Me? Well it made the bottom drop out of my stomach. Kinda like when you go down a steep hill on a rollar coaster and your butt lifts off the seat, and your stomach hits your throat. Yea that would be the feeling I had yesterday as i watch the bus pull away from the curb with my baby boy on it.

All his life i have been there. Protecting him, making decisions for him, helping him to make decisions as he got old enough to, showing him which way is right and which is wrong. Yesterday i had to let go. I had to watch him climb those bus stairs to go off into a world where Mommy is not able to be.

He looked so small but not a bit scared. He left the scared part up to me haha. I worried all day long. I kept waiting for the call from the school telling me he was in tears and screaming for me. It never came. And i think in the end that was almost as bad as if it would have came.

The day went fine until school let out. First i must explain what is happening with our schools right now so that you will possible get a better grasp (or as good as i have since no one seems to be able to help anyone understand) of the situation.

We have 2 schools that are very old and are being combined into one brand spanking new school. The new school, however, will not be ready til after Christmas break. In order to make the transition easier they split the grades up according to school. kindergarten through second grade attend one school and third through fifth attend the other. They did this, so we are told, to allow the teachers to already have their classes sorted and when we all combine into the new school all they will have to do is assign a class room instead of having to sort kids into new classes. This made since to me for all of about 5 seconds until i realized the chaos it is causing for everyone.

The bus schedule runs like this: Phabian's bus (314) picks him up on the cornor at 7:30am then proceeds to pick up all the other kids. He arrives at school 1 (not his school) and is shuffled off his bus (314) and onto another bus (210). Bus 210 proceeds to take all the k-2 kids to school 2 (Phabian's school). At 2:45pm school lets out. Phabian and other kids are loaded onto bus 210 where they then go to school 1 and are shuffeled off of bus 210 back onto bus 314 and then ride home.

Now if that seems confusing to you imagine how it must seem to the 5 year old who has never riden a school bus to school and this is his very first day of kindergarten. Overwhelming? Most definitely.

Now take into consideration we (the parents) have not been informed of any of this. No one has told us anything more than where to catch the bus and the bus number 314, and where to pick our kids up and the bus number 314. We knew nothing about transfering buses or bus 210.

So Phabian's teacher calls us at 2:30 and asks us where his bus stop is so she can place him on the right bus. We told her and she put him on what we assumed was but 314 (the only bus we knew about.) 30 minutes later we call her back since we have not seen heads or tails of the bus. She tells us then that he is on bus 210 and that the principal is on the bus with the kids. She at the time had no idea that the bus would be going to the other school as neither did we. She told us she would call the principal and call us back asap. 45 minutes since school let out she calls us back he is stillon bus 210 and they are at the other school picking up kids.

Ok here is where all hell breaks lose. At 4pm an hour after school has let out bus 314 pulls up drops the other kids off...Where is my son??????

They inform (being the bus driver and the other bus aid) us he is still on bus 210 and should be along soon. We call the teacher back. Now here is where i will tell you I LOVE HIS TEACHER! She was just as concerned as we were and kept in contact with us the whole time. She gave us her personal cell number and up to the second we finally got him off the bus kept us informed of what was happening. She is a great woman and did everything she possibly could to make sure we were and Phabian was ok. She did her job and put him on the right bus and what happened from there was in no way her fault.

Finally at 4:30 after i was ready to bite someones head off bus 210 pulled up (with the principal on it) and dropped my handsom smiling son off to us. He was no worse for the wear and seemed to have even enjoyed his extended bus ride. The following conversation went something like this:

Me: May I ask you (the principal) if this is the bus he is suppose to ride home or did something go wrong?

Principal: (in snotty tone) Well he was SUPPOSE to get on bus 314 but he didnt know where his bus stop was.

Me: (trying to stay calm) Did you try to contact his teacher because she knew.

Principal: (getting more snotty) Well we are all confused! We ask him where he was going but all he could tell us was the church with the white buses. We had no clue. So we just kept him with us!

Me: (taking deep deep breathes) OKAY! Thank you!

Honestly what i wanted to do was jump on the bus and strangle the woman. How can you possibly blame my 5 year old son, who has never riden a bus before, to know where his bus stop is. He was probably confused and terrified. So all i could do was walk home, breathe deep, and curse under my breath. And i did! All three!

So needless to say we are hoping for the best today. He now knows he is suppose to ride 314 home. So if asked he tells then 3-1-4 when someone asks what bus he rides. Now if it happens again today i am telling you there will be bad stuff. My husband is not here to help me stay calm and i am not a patient woman when it comes to my kids being toyed with.

His teacher said she was going to make him a tag today so that he and the bus aid (or who ever) would know. We also introduced him to one of the kids on his bus and told them to help each other when it came to switching buses. Phabian is a smart kids but he is only 5 and even most of us adults cant comprehend this mess.

So i let my 5 year old spread his wings yesterday. He flew brilliantly. It is the first step in a long line of firsts and letting go inch by inch of the balloon string. His teacher later told me 9when i called her to let her know we had him) that he did great at school. He listened well, sat quietly, and played nice with the other kids. She said he was a model student on his first impression and she was glad to have him in her class.

My baby is growing up. He is excelling in his ability to do things seperatly from his family and as much as it breaks my heart to watch him go out into the world i know he will do well. He is smart, loving, kind, and gently but also so so strong.