Boy vs. Bus

Julia's bus driver, Anna, is an absolute gem. She is so sweet to Julia, and the little kids both adore her. Many days, they slip on whatever shoes they can grab, throw on a coat and race outside in their jammies so they can say hi to Anna. Luke helps push the buttons to lower and raise the lift. Anna 'pays' him with high fives. Today after four high fives, Luke said, "I'm really makin' some cash!" Anna has also commented that Julia helps with her seat belt - Julia holds it each morning until Anna clicks the two pieces together. I love that she notices the little things that Julia does. She is also very careful to make sure little ones are out of the way before she leaves. So, after Julia is secured on the bus, I round up Luke and Erica on the front patio. As soon as the bus is clear of the driveway, Luke takes off like a shot to race the bus to the corner. Anna drives really slow, and Luke can run pretty darn fast, so Luke usually wins. A few days ago, Luke started the race on his scooter, but that wasn't fast enough. So, he abandoned the scooter and finished the race on foot. At the corner, Anna waves good-bye, toots the horn and sends him back home.

There's a lesson in all of this - it doesn't take much to really make someone's day a lot better. School mornings tend to make me tense. We're on a tight schedule to make sure Julia is dressed, medicated, fed and packed for school - not to mention that the little ones need help with dressing and breakfast. So, while Julia is usually ready to go on time, there's not a lot of time to spare. Some of Julia's other bus drivers would blow the horn if Julia wasn't outside the second they pulled in the driveway. Anna takes a different approach. She's so relaxed that it helps me to relax. These days, she's here really early because Caitlin hasn't been on the bus. Instead of making me feel rushed, she puts the lift down and sits on the edge with her feet dangling over. She said she doesn't want to drive around to just kill time, so she just takes a few minutes to chill in our driveway. Jacob and Sam, the brothers that ride the bus with Julia, chill out with her. No worries, no horn beeping, no crabbiness...just smiles and laughing. It's amazing how one person's attitude can really help me get my day off to a better start. I hope that I can pass it on.