First day of 1st grade

I know that I promised a melodramatic mom post for Tuesday, but this week has just been insane, so I’m a little late!

Abby’s first week of 1^st grade has been fabulous!

Tuesday morning, I pulled myself out of bed at 5:45 a.m. and 15 minutes later groaned to myself as I went to wake up Abby. Last year’s mornings were typically met with “but I’m tye-erd” – and you know the voice I’m talking about, at least if you’re a mom! I expected some of the same. I walked in and cheerfully said, “Good morning!”

All ready to go!

Abby jolted out of bed, said “good morning,” clambered down the ladder of her bunk bed and ran, yes ran, to the bathroom. She was dressed, teeth brushed and ready to go by 6:15 a.m. I brushed her hair and we went down stairs so I could cook breakfast.

We (Abby, my 7-month-old niece whom I babysit and I) walked out the door at 6:45 a.m. to head to the bus stop. Kindergarten is not mandatory in Pennsylvania. Because of that, the school district will not pay for kindergarten students to take the school bus. For those who don’t know, last year I used to take by daughter by train and bus to school every day. I traveled about an hour there, an hour back home, an hour to pick her up and another hour home again. Yes, I spent four hours on public transportation just to take my daughter to school every day. What’s worse, SEPTA charges full price for any child five-years-old or older. So not only did I need a bus pass for myself, I needed one for Abby as well. It cost me $166/month for Abby’s free public education!

But I digress; the kindergarten not being mandatory thing is a post for another day.

Waiting . . .

This is Abby’s first year taking the school bus and I wanted to make sure we arrived early. The bus was scheduled to pick up at 7:07 a.m. and we arrived at 6:50 a.m. I knew the intersection, but not the exact corner. I saw a boy with a backpack on and asked if he was going to FACTs and sure enough! Well we waited . . . and waited . . . and waited.

and still waiting.

Another boy came to the bus stop by this time. His mom was waiting in the car to make sure the bus showed up. Obviously, she had done this before. At 20 after 7, the boys hopped in her car. She said she’d offer to take Abby and me, but she didn’t have a car seat. A quick call to Kessel at home solved that problem. He ran (ok, he didn’t run) to the bus stop, took the baby and Abby and I hopped in the car as well. Many, many thanks go to the mom!

So, Abby made it to school just fine.

And then there was the afternoon drop-off. The boys from the bus stop suggested I show up around 4:00 p.m. I thought that made sense. The bus company refused to give a drop-off time. (Oh, and apparently, they changed the pick-up time to 7:21 a.m.) I was standing at the bus stop, in the rain, at 3:45 p.m.

Home at last!

I waited . . . and I waited . . . and I waited. The awesome mom who drove us to school in the morning called me around 4:40 p.m. . . . you know, after I had already crossed the streets a dozen times hoping the bus I saw was Abby’s. Her son had called. Apparently, the bus was late picking them up and now the bus driver had no idea where he was. Fabulous! Well, at least I knew my baby was okay!

My umbrella was basically doing nothing at this point. I was drenched head to toe. Finally, Abby’s bus pulls up at 5:20 p.m. She happily screams, “MOMMY!!!” and runs to give me a hug. As we walked home, I asked how her day was and how she liked 1^stgrade. Her response was, “I AB-SO-LUTELY LOVED IT!”

Walking home in the rain

So, bus issues aside, it was an awesome first day! Here’s a video of Abby talking about her first day of 1^st grade:

Abby's second day of 1st grade, but her first day riding the school bus TO school!

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