The Ultimate Blog Story

Today I learned what happens when you follow your kindergartener's bus home from the school...they call the cops on you.

If only I had a picture...but you can imagine...my van (with my neighbor Sheri , myself, Jenna, and Sarah inside), a large yellow school bus, and two police cars blocking the cross roads of our corner.

Here's the story: Jason and Brett ride the kindergarten bus home from school. After a week of being 45-50 minutes on the bus, Sheri and I wondered why it was taking so long for them to get home. They were 30+ minutes later than the time reported by the transportation office. So, we decided to follow the bus to see why they were taking so long. I've followed the bus before...especially when I have kinders.

Well, our "following" alarmed the bus driver, who is required to report "suspicious" behavior. By the time we made it to our bus stop (the last one, mind you), he had called the police. We went to greet our children and instead got a talkin' to by the bus driver. And then the police arrived. They were on a priority one call...meaning many cops were about to descend upon our street.

Clearly, the evidence showed that the "suspects" were only concerned moms who never knew it was wrong to follow the bus. Two soccer mom and their toddlers were clearly not the threat the bus driver had suspected. Don't get us wrong, we were grateful that the bus driver was taking every precaution to protect the children of his bus.

The police gave us a smile and then said if we ever wanted to follow the bus again, we needed to let the school or the bus driver know...lesson learned.

Boy, did the secretaries at the elementary school have fun with this story! The police had my license plate number and reported that it was "ME"...man, did they laugh and then knew their was no longer a threat to the children of that school bus. I have a feeling I won't hear the end of this one.

So, the morale of the story...don't follow school buses. However, a bigger question remains...how is 45-50 minutes on the school bus a good thing for kindergarteners? Especially when you only live a 5-10 minute car ride from the school. Jason gets home and he is honorary, tired, hungry, and stir crazy from having been on the bus so long. I understand how the transportation office is trying to conserve buses...but how long is too long to be on a bus??? I guessing that they would tell me if I don't like it to not use the bus.

The other issue of this story...the police officer repeated several times how in "this day and age" you can never be too sure. There are so many people doing so many evil things that bus drivers, police officers, and the general public have to be on "alert" to protect our children. Gone are the days that we can let our children freely play outside all day long. Gone are the days that our children can roam the neighborhoods and walk to the local candy store. Gone are the days when your kids can wander about by themselves. Gone are the days where you can trust ALL of your neighbors to have a watchful eye out for your children. Too much crime, deception, and evil in the world! It makes me grateful for every neighbor you can trust, every simple or large act of kindness, every moment that you can feel safe.