Our two youngest have started high school this year. THAT's a weird statement to write, and I still haven't wrapped my brain around it fully - especially since they just finished 3rd grade last year.
One of the things they have really looked forward to this year is not having to ride the bus to school anymore - something they have always detested. Since I work just a few blocks from the high school, I have been giving them a ride every morning. It's usually a great time of bonding and affirming, and that's what I'm all about - getting our kids off to a good start to their day. Some days are better than others, but this is what worked for us today:
1) Make sure teenage daughter is up (she always is) and ready for school on time (she usually is).
2) Get teenage son up. This is a blog post for another day.
3) Watch the clock and get a little more irritated as the time to leave approaches and teenage son is still in the bathroom.
4) Yell at the bathroom door, several times, to "HURRY UP!" or "GET MOVING!!", followed by "I AM FREAKING LEAVING NOW!!"
5) Make teenage son put on his deodorant, hair gel, and shoes in the car because you weren't going to wait for him one minute longer.
6) Listen to Ellen Degeneres' newest audio book on the way to town because it is hilarious. This will begin to lighten the mood of the teenage son who was so rudely rushed, and the teenage daughter who was annoyed by all the rushing and lack of consequences for her brother who is never ready on time and the unfairness of the universe...
7) Watch and laugh as teenage son tries to figure out how to mail a letter in one of those blue mail boxes outside the post office.
8) Kind of come to a complete stop at the cross walk, where a group of your daughter's friends are starting to cross the street, and sufficiently embarrass her to near death as her friends hurry a little faster across the street with wide, surprised eyes as they stare at your "stopped" van and jump out of the way (just a little).
9) Kind of stop a block from school and tell your kids it's time to jump out and they "better tuck & roll 'cause mama's gotta get to work on time".
10) Tell them, "Have a good day and I'm sorry for almost running over your friends" just as the van door slams shut and you speed away. Good times.
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