When the end justifies the means
In a somewhat controversial move, I have decided to pick my children up after school rather than making them ride the bus home.
There were several factors that contributed to this decision, convenience and my sanity not being among them.
The bus system here sucks. The routes are ridiculous and time consuming and the buses are overcrowded. Savannah had a major meltdown every day over it, and Katie came up with fourteen thousand excuses for staying after school so I'd have to pick her up anyway.
Some will say I've sold out. I say, choose your battles. It was obviously an issue important enough to my kids that they resorted to subterfuge and hysteria as their only means to solve the problem. If something is that important to them and I can do something about it, I need to pay attention.
When given the opportunity to really listen to your kids and see things from their point of view, take it. I wish my parents had.
Plus it gives me ammunition all year. "You don't want to clean your room? Well, you can always go back to riding the bus home."
There were several factors that contributed to this decision, convenience and my sanity not being among them.
The bus system here sucks. The routes are ridiculous and time consuming and the buses are overcrowded. Savannah had a major meltdown every day over it, and Katie came up with fourteen thousand excuses for staying after school so I'd have to pick her up anyway.
Some will say I've sold out. I say, choose your battles. It was obviously an issue important enough to my kids that they resorted to subterfuge and hysteria as their only means to solve the problem. If something is that important to them and I can do something about it, I need to pay attention.
When given the opportunity to really listen to your kids and see things from their point of view, take it. I wish my parents had.
Plus it gives me ammunition all year. "You don't want to clean your room? Well, you can always go back to riding the bus home."
posted by Cas at 10:11 AM
2 Comments:
Cas,
I to have decided to pick my kids up from school. The bus ride to school isn't nearly as long and bad as the ride home. Fortunately, I only have to pick them up two days a week due to band practice the other three. So this is what it looks for me and it wasn't because my kids fussed but they do have other events or things to do that getting home at 5 p.m. does not help.
On Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays the kids have band practice at the high school (Hailie is in high school and doesn't have to worry about getting there; Benjamin is in middle school but in the marching band for the high school). These three days, Benjamin rides the bus from the middle school over to the high school and gets off to go to band practice. Fridays is football games and since their call times vary, I cannot let them ride the bus home due to the fact that they would not be home in time to gather their clothing and other items needed for the football game, so I have to pick them up on those days. On Wednesdays, which I really see as the only day they could ride the bus home, I have decided to pick them up so that they are at least home by 3:45 (depending on if I have errands to run after picking them up) since Hailie is involved in the puppets group at church and she has to be there by 6 and there are things that need to be done before she goes to church.
So for this semester, while they are involved in band and football season is here, they get picked up but next semester - they may just have to ride the bus home every day - but I'll have to wait and see what comes of that after the Christmas Holidays -
so we are in a similar situation but for different reasons - E :)
I never realized riding the bus was bad news bears! Tell every one i said hi!
Love you guys,
Noya
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