Here Comes The Bus

Emma had her first full day of Kindergarten yesterday. She has patiently waited for two years to be able to ride the bus to school. She did just that Monday morning. Abby filled her in on all the necessary rules (don't stand up, etc) while Emma absorbed all the info like a sponge. As they got on the bus, Abby had made me promise that I wouldn't cry. But as they got on the bus, Abby sweetly made sure that Emma had a window seat. Emma sat on the side of the bus where I was and waved to me with the biggest grin I had ever seen on her face. My eyes swelled up with tears as I saw how happy she was. Ian and I turned quickly so they wouldn't see me crying, hopped in the truck, and raced off to Publix to take my mind off the day.

That afternoon the rain poured down. The girls were supposed to get off the bus at 4 pm. Emma has said that I had her permission to take a picture of them getting off the bus but not getting on that morning; in her words, "That would be too embarrassing Mom!" So I grabbed my umbrella and shot this video of Abby and Emma getting off the bus. Sorry I don't have zoom but you get the gist of it. Notice how Abby is holding an umbrella over them both!

As the girls began to fill me in on their day, Abby shares some funny stuff about the afternoon boarding the bus at school. Abby had walked Emma to class that morning and was very concerned about Emma getting on the right bus that afternoon. I told Abby that the Kindergarten teachers were making some kind of headband that would give the bus number that the kiddo is supposed to take home. Abby felt better about this but began to explain to me how dismissal played out. Abby raced to the bus from her classroom nervously looking for Emma in the crowd of kids. She didn't see Emma anywhere but then suddenly she thought she might already be on the bus. Abby climbs the bus steps and there in the first seat is Emma. Emma is wildly waving her arms in the air with mouth open and eyes huge (those of you who know Emma know this look well). Oh I forgot to mention that while she is waving like a mad woman, Emma is also sporting an enormous sentence strip (the kind the teachers use) stapled around her head with her name, bus number and a cut out of a big red bus on it. Abby, who before had been so concerned about Emma's whereabouts, sits quickly down beside Emma and tells her in a loud whisper, " Get that thing off you head...you look like a dufus!" Emma immediately complies! Oh the joys of sisterhood!