Day 20/180

I roll up to a grade school stop this morning not expecting it to be any different than any other day. There were a half dozen kids waiting for me to come along.  One first grade boy saw me and took a stance.  His feet were planted firmly.  He extended one arm straight toward me and I could practically see the energy waves coming from the palm of his hand.  The bus stopped.  He came on board.  I asked, "Did you use the force to stop the bus?" He just smiled and said, "Yep!" 

Day 19/180

It's Friday afternoon before a long weekend.  Everyone is in a hurry to get away.  Luckily one mom of a kindergartner had taken the time to cross the street and talk with another mom.  As her son ran toward her, instead of crossing the street, a car blew through both the stop sign on the corner and my stop arm.  Had he not seen his mom, he would have been hit.  Two days in a row in the same neighborhood at the same intersection.  People blame high school drivers, but so far I have only had adults run my stop arm.  

Day 18/180

At my first stop this afternoon I had someone run my stop arm.  Luckily I had called the kid that is supposed to cross the street there back to the bus for something.  He was safe.  People see one or two kids get off at a stop and don't realize I have 12 that exit the bus there.  Or they see a bunch and don't realize that the one last kid sitting in the back of the bus is struggling to get through a narrow isle with a french horn and it takes him twice as long as everyone else to get to the door.  Especially when it is raining, kids run form every direction to catch the bus at the last minute.  Morning or night, sun, rain, sleet, or snow, JUST STOP.  

Day 17/180

It's wiggly tooth Wednesday!  Once one kid comes up and shows you they have a wiggly tooth, EVERY kid wants to show you either their wiggly tooth. (Or the hole where it used to be.)  I told them all about my gym teacher when I was in grade school.  He was the HS football coach and a retired player from the 49ers.  If he ever found out you had a wiggly tooth he would pull it right then. Of course everyone always told him if anyone in the class needed his services.  I asked them if I should start tying a string to their teeth and when I open the bus door it would yank them out.  They all yelled NO! and ran back to their seats!