It Was Only Day 5 and the Principal Called!!

Oh no! 

It was about 9:30 this morning when my desk phone rang and I looked over to see Hannah’s school name in the call display box. 

My heart began to beat…fast!

I answered to hear, ‘Hi Catherine, This is CB, principal at xxxx PS.’

My heart beat even faster!

She quickly reassured me that all was fine with Hannah at which point I think I began to breathe again.  LOL!

It seems like her bussing needs a little adjustment which is going to mean a couple of days of changing things up. 

When I originally called the school to inform them that Hannah would require a bus from Ange’s, I didn’t realize that there was more than one bus to her school from that pick-up location.  As I mentioned in my first bus post she was assigned to a different bus from her bus buddies but the driver had allowed her on his bus since I wasn’t sure which one she was to be on.  She’d been on their bus all of last week so I thought it had all been taken care of.  Ummm…no.  Unfortunately it hasn’t and the school has been advised by the bus company that until the switch is officially made that the school is required to put her on the other bus.  Since the 2 buses take 2 different routes there is no guarantee that they will arrive at the drop-off at the same time so between the principal on I we quickly worked on a Plan B for the next couple of days.

I understand rules are there for a reason and this is just a ‘glitch’ for us.  I’m still very thankful that all these rules are in place because those rules help keep my child safe and truly that’s the bottom line!

Mrs B and I chatted through my options and it quickly became evident to both of us that the easiest transition for Hannah would be for me to make arrangements with work to pick Hannah up at school for the next few days and drive her to Ange’s.  She in turn ensured that Hannah’s bus buddies knew about the change for a few days.  The other thing she did was go down and talk with Hannah herself and assure her that Mommy was going to pick her up today.

When I went to pick my sweetie up she was in the JK pen with her teacher who was diligently checking each child’s pick-up sheet to ensure the person picking them up was permitted to do so.  I saw older siblings turned away because the parents had not granted permission and honestly, I was thankful.  I am thankful that they are SO careful.   Mrs C saw me and called to Hannah and opened the gate for her to leave.  We said goodbye and were on our way. 

Hannah still wasn’t too sure about what was happening but I tried to explain that there was a little mix-up with her bus and Mommy would be picking her up for a couple of days.  I quickly noticed that the tag identifying her bus had been removed from her bag so that she was not accidentally put on the bus. 

I cannot express how thankful I am that the school is so careful with the care they take of Hannah and the other students!

I drove her to Ange’s and my little sweetie was pretty quiet.  I explained that I was taking her to Ange’s for a bit while I went back to work and then would return to get her soon.

Her little voice came from the back seat, hesitantly saying, ‘Mommy, this is a confusing day!’

I told her that I totally understood and what she needed to know was that this was just for a couple of days and soon she would be back on her old bus.  I made sure she knew that Mommy was going to be right with her through this.

The second part of the temporary change was that she was also supposed to be on the new bus in the mornings for a few days.  This wouldn’t have been as difficult as Ange would have put her on the bus and the same teacher as always would take her off but tonight Ange offered to drive her to school for me and drop her off in the pen until the change back to her original bus is finalized.  This was an AMAZING gift!!!  Thank you Ange!

I am thankful once again for Hannah’s 'go with the flow’ personality and security to know that it’s going to be okay.  She truly is amazing!!

Soon she’ll be back on her original bus with her buddies but for now Mommy is blessed to see her gal an extra few minutes each afternoon!