The start of the school and a busload of problems

Maya is back at school and loving it!

Well, mostly.

School started last Thursday.  On Tuesday I called the new bus company and found out that her pick-up time was 2 hours before school started.  Yikes.  They seemed confident that the route would change.  I called the bus company back on Wednesday, realizing that they hadn't told me Maya's route number . . . and this time they told me that we had been deleted from the system and had no bussing.  So then I called the school, who told me that we definitely had bussing.  Ty also were confident that major changes were going to be made, as many of the routes seemed to criss cross around the city.  I learned that rather than letting the bus companies handling the routing, the DOE had taken over the process.  Of course . . . that makes total sense. 

We decided to drive Maya on Thursday & Friday, after hearing that the buses would likely be re-routed over the weekend.    Here are a few first day pics:

Double-checking her backpack while we waited in the lobby

As soon as she hit her new classroom she ran right to the garage toy, pulled out the buses, and started driving them around.  Poor kid is having some bus withdrawal.

 



Thursday and Friday afternoon brought some major meltdowns as Maya was desperate to get on the bus rather than having to go in the car with me.  She didn't care that I was trying to rescue her from the 2.5 hour trip home (yep, seriously) . . . she wanted the BUS.  We heard that the buses were being re-routed over the weekend and the trips on Monday should be more smooth, so we psyched her up, saying "Your bus isn't ready yet, but it will come on Monday!"

All weekend, we talked about the bus. This morning we marched outside and waited.  And waited.  And waited.  The waiting didn't bother me much, because I kept thinking good--this means our new pick-up time is later-that's great news!  But after 90 minutes we gave up and headed into the school in the car (Maya was bribed with chocolate milk and a movie . . . by that point she was tired of waiting, too).  I dropped her off at school only to learn that the buses weren't there, the routes still seemed to be a mess, and maybe I should come back for her this afternoon? 

And so . . .instead of working or nesting or doing much of anything productive, I'm getting ready to drive back into the city and pick up a very angry 4 yr old who will rage against getting in my car.  I'm so bummed that we told her she would be on the bus today and have to break our word. I'm thinking it will be an ice cream afternoon. 

(This is a big, bad city-wide issue right now, with several stories appearing in the paper and on the radio about the obscenely long routes for these preschoolers.  I can only hope that hopefully that means it will be dealt with more quickly.)

There's a silver lining, though.

Bus aside, the school year is off to a great start.  Maya loves her new class, which is a bit larger and has less adult helpers . . . I was a little bit nervous about the transition, but she's doing great.  I thought that she might try to run away to her old class, but she hasn't---an aide even took her there to visit and say hi, and she left without a peep when it was time to go.

The new teacher and new speech therapist seem great, interested, caring, and open to learning all about her talker and how to incorporate it.  (Whew!)   When the important stuff is going so well, it's hard to lose (too much) sleep over something like the bus.  I sure hope that they get this squared away soon, though.  You know, like before this baby is arriving.