Roan rode a big yellow bus to school for the first time this morning. He got on kicking and screaming at 8am but returned home smiling 2 1/2 hrs later (see before and after photos below).
NOT happy about riding the bus
For weeks, Roan talked bravely and enthusiastically about riding the bus (“the bus driver is going to pull a lever like a BIG CRANE!andI’mgoingtogetonALL BY MYSELFandpickmy FIRST SEATand…”). However, I did on occasion find him pushing his wooden school bus around and wailing (because the kids on the bus wanted their mamas and dadas to sit next to them).
happy to see Mama and Dada and proud to be a big boy
Casey and I recalled our first bus rides as children. On Day 1, on the way home from school in his Minneapolis/St. Paul suburb, Casey wasn’t sure what to do, so he got off last at the wrong stop and found his way home like a lost dog. Four years later in southern Illinois, I did exactly the same thing – just add a bucket of tears as I walked down Pleasant Hill Rd, trying not to get hit by cars on the hilly road with no sidewalk. Other than that mishap (“are you SURE this is your stop?” – “Yes” I said, already too afraid to admit I didn’t know something at age 7), I would have to say Norris was the world’s greatest bus driver. He had the goofiest, most jolly smile, the greatest laugh, and he always seemed interested in the stories we told him and the questions we asked on long bus rides down rural routes. Between 1st and 8th grade, I never saw him cross. God bless Norris. – Lavina
Raising Roan 