What do you mean he’s not there?!

I had one of those parent feelings that you don’t want to feel today. One of those feelings that set your heart racing and mind wandering to all the worst possibilities… ugh!

On Wednesdays Ayden goes to school early and is stays late. We love us some Great Escape program for the kids. Despite the Y’s outrageous prices, I am grateful for the program so there is some place safe for Ayden to go to on the days that Jay and I cannot stay with him until the bus comes or be home when he gets off.

This morning Jay dropped Ayden off and all was well. The day progressed per usual. I called Jay when I was done with work this afternoon before my last class of the day asking him if he could pick up Ayden on his way home from work so I could stay after and print some stuff off. Might as well make use of the $20 I paid for paper in the clinic.

My lab this afternoon is slotted for two hours, but doesn’t necessarily take that whole time. Today we did not have a lot to go over and took just under an hour. That left me plenty of time to get my printing done and still head over and get Ayden before he had to stay for too long after school.

I was walking out of the building and calling Jay to see if he was on his way already to get Ayden or not since it was close to the time he was getting done with work. He did not answer so I was going to try him again once I got to my car. About a half block down I got a call from a number I did not recognize. Turned out it was from the Y’s Great Escape program and they were calling because Ayden did not show up for the after school program.

What?! I was pretty certain that we drilled it into Ayden’s head this morning that mom was going to pick him up from school and that he was NOT to ride the bus home. They were going to call the school and see if he was wandering around somewhere, but I was pretty certain he was on the bus. I was about two blocks from my car and it was about two minutes before his bus usually drops him off. If he was in fact on the bus there was no way I was going to make it home before the bus dropped him off, mind you, I’m about a 5-10 minute drive from our house (depending on traffic).

My little boy would be getting off the bus by himself and no one would be home to meet him!

So, I get a call from the Y just as I get to my car confirming that in fact he was on the bus and had just been dropped off. I had no fear that Ayden would get to our house fine. His bus stop is about a block away from the house and we’ve been practicing and had talked about what he should do if at some point no one met him at the bus stop. But we are only in the third week of school and he had to cross the street to get to our house! My fear was him crossing the road! We don’t live on an overly busy road, but you know drivers, not everyone is extra cautious of people walking down the side of it and we don’t have sidewalks. But, we’ve been practicing looking both ways to make sure there are no cars coming before crossing. I was also afraid of what he would do once he got home and couldn’t get in. Would he wait on the steps? Would he start walking somewhere trying to find us?

My drive home could not have gone slower! Luckily the traffic wasn’t bad and there were no cops around. An anxious mommy stepped on the gas a little too much.

PTL I found my sweet son sitting in the back yard on my swing. He was none worse for the wear. No tears or anything. He told me that he looked both ways before crossing the road and sat on the gravel in the driveway but that was boring so he stood there and that was boring and then went to sit on the swing.

His school was great and called and made sure he was home safe and sound and had the bus drive by to make sure he was okay before I got there. His teacher called as well and apologized back and forth about sending him on the bus. I had sent a note both the first week and last week stating that on Wednesday afternoons he was to attend the Great Escape program. She said that Ayden was pretty adamant that I was picking him up, but she got a little mixed up and he ended up on the bus. We got everything sorted out (although I’m sending a note every week from now on because she has more than just Ayden to worry about) and then told me that he was doing great in school so far.

I talked with Ayden about what happened and made sure he wasn’t upset by it. I made sure that he knew he did the right thing. I reinforced that if that EVER happens again, he is to do the same thing by going to sit on the swing. I told him that we are going to try very hard to make sure that doesn’t happen again, but in the even that it ever does, he knows what he is supposed to do. I didn’t want to make him feel bad for riding the bus since his teacher told him to and that it was okay and that mommy was just so happy to see that he got home okay.

So, I got the adrenaline rush that I really didn’t want today and maybe the start of some grey hairs, but no one is worse for the wear. Things could have gone a lot worse. I’m proud of my boy, not upset with the school or his teacher (actually so happy and grateful that they were so concerned and helpful about the whole situation), and full of hope that we have no more pit of the stomach happenings for a LONG time, because I know being a parent that I’m never out of the woods.

Two more days this week… UGH!

CIAO! LOVE ME!