Just One of Them Days

For some reason, the driver of Bus 245 thought it would be funny to play a practical joke on me this morning and arrive five minutes earlier than usual to our bus stop.  The bus picks up at each corner of our block.  I typically have the kids ready in time for them to make the earlier stop.  But I choose to hold them until the later stop, thus limiting, as much as possible, their exposure to f-bombs and whatever else shenanigans take place on the bus.

This morning was running so smoothly!  The kids were actually fed, dressed, backpacks packed, and coats on with ten minutes to spare.  When we headed down the driveway to check the first stop, we could hear the bus (it has horribly squeaky brakes) was already approaching the stop that the kids board.  Super!  I ran inside and grabbed my keys.

It snowed yesterday so the windshield was iced over and the windows would not roll down.  Throwing caution to the wind, for the sake of getting the kids on the bus, I drove down the street peeking through the tiniest little slit in the windshield that was ice free and actually provided me a view of the street, however minute it might be.  The bus had already come and gone.  Now I knew I had to take the kids to school.

If you are not in the car rider line by 8:00 am, they make you take the kids inside to sign them in tardy.  It was already 7:47 am.  I decided to gamble.  I grabbed Holt, who was already screaming for his morning bottle, and threw him in his car seat.  I snatched Hawkins out of his bed, not having any time to let him first use the potty and jumped in the car myself.  I was barefooted and in my pajamas.  Did I mention I was leaking breastmilk through my shirt at this point?!

Like 'The Little Engine That Could' I chanted to myself all the way to school, "you can make it, you can make it, you can make it".  As a back up plan, I was already scheming in my head how to avoid escorting the kids inside the building.  I figured if any of the staff peaked in my car to witness what kind of fiasco was going on, they would have sympathy on me.

Fortunately, we made it just in time for the kids to walk themselves into the school.  I'm not sure my kids would have ever gotten over barefooted, milk soaked, pajama clad Mom signing them in at the office.