maybe I should send her UPS...
I recognize that the beginning of the school year is going to have some false starts and some kinks to work out. The first week I tried to be patient with myself, my kids, the schools and the teachers. We figured out how to get the homework done, what time to leave home to get to school on time, where to park for pick-up and drop-off and how to deal with school lunch.
My second-grader added an additional kink to our system because she takes the bus to school. She is part of an options program and lives an appropriate distance away from the school so we get to drop her off at our local school where the bus picks her up to take her to her class. Since my preschool daughter has a conflicting start time and because traffic conditions are uncertain, I have felt very thankful to have the busing system available for our use.
I just wish the bus company viewed my daughter as the precious commodity that she is. I understand that traffic can be bad, buses break down and substitute drivers may not know the route as well as the regular driver, but when my daughter is an hour late to her bus stop, I think I deserve to know where in the wide city of Chicago she is and what time she is expected to arrive.
On more than one occasion, I have sat with two little kids going crazy in the car, waiting and wondering where my daughter is. Did she miss the bus? Did she get off at the wrong stop? Has the bus driver decided to take the kids on a field trip to southern Illinois?
I appreciate the fact that the school system provides a bus coordinator and student supervisor at each school. The ladies at our bus stop are extremely gracious and do their best to be encouraging and helpful. The problem is the bus company. When one of these ladies calls to find out where my daughter is and when she might be arriving, the company has lied about the bus's location and is vague at best about an arrival time.
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