It is time to break up with the carline

We put the girls on the school bus this year and it is a gamechanger. I have been given the gift of time, 2.5 hours to be exact. A block of time has been returned to my daily schedule and my stress level has plummeted.

Last year I assumed the role of carline mom because I had the flexibility to drive Ella to school and with the campus being at fifty percent capacity it was easy breezy. Unfortunately, that is not the case this year. The carlines are ridiculous, worse than the pre-COVID days. You must arrive at the carline an hour early in the morning to ensure that your children are on time. I assume this is because more parents are working from home, we have lots of people new to the area, we are still in a global pandemic, oh and there is a bus driver shortage. All these reasons seem legit, but I don’t have the patience for it anymore.

Seasoned parents have drop off drills in place. As the line begins to move, I yell “grab your backpacks, masks on, it's time to tuck and roll people” then they jump out during a rolling stop. It's called efficiency. If you are still grooming your child, passing out muffins, and going through the homework from the night before the carline is not the place for you.

I encouraged the girls to take the bus. I told them it would be a great way to make new friends in the neighborhood and they agreed. Not to mention the bus pulls up at the end of our street, it’s a no-brainer. I’ll be honest, I was nervous at first. Will they be on time? Will they both make it on the bus? How will they know which bus is theirs?

I tried to remember what it was like when I took the bus in elementary school – I figured it out. I put small handheld fans and mini umbrellas in the girls' backpacks to protect them from the elements. I didn’t have those tools way back then. The parents of the 80’s believed heatstroke and departing the bus in a hurricane built character. I even walked from the back of my neighborhood to the bus stop, unsupervised, early in the morning to develop independence. Now bus stops have 25 parked cars and parents littering the streets waiting for our bundles of joy.

 The first day on the bus was a success according to the girls but Adriana did have a bullying incident. In the afternoon, Adriana chose a row in the back of the bus and was saving a seat for her sister. Kindergarteners load the bus first. As the higher grades got on the bus an older, fifth-grade boy tried to bully Adriana into giving up the seat she was saving for Ella. When she refused multiple times, he pushed her. Well, my girl stood up and kicked him! The bus driver saw the whole thing and pulled the boy off the bus and sent him to the back of the line.

Another boy made his way down the aisle and gave Adriana a high five telling her “good job for sticking up for yourself” and asked how she learned to kick like that.

Immediately, my mind goes to the cheesy 80’s movies where the kid getting picked on prevails and the entire cafeteria cheers and gives a standing ovation. Adriana informed everyone that she takes karate and not to mess with her. Now when she gets off the bus kids wave and say, “bye karate girl”.

The girls are enjoying their new mode of transportation and I love walking out my front door to greet them. I highly recommend it.

Ella and Adriana at their new bus stop.