Yesterday was school....Today is work

So Catie had the best day ever on her first day of school! After I left my crying child at school I called my friend Karen who we all adore and asked her if she would mind going to eat lunch with Catie. Not only did she show up for lunch but she brought Catie a Happy Meal! She thought she was hot stuff and I was relieved and grateful to Karen for helping make Catie's day better. I did get called to the school around 11:00 to take her some pain medicine for her chin and she seemed better even then! She made some new friends and had a pretty good day. Second grade is pretty tough and she brought home actual homework on the first day of school! We practiced her words for the spelling test on Friday and I was happy to see she is quite the speller!

Today was the first day of my new job and I really enjoyed it and look forward to going back tomorrow. It is so hard to be a stay at home mom and not have friends take you seriously. I am really tired of people telling me I live on easy street because I don't work and I stay home all day and I guess according to them I sit on my butt all day. Little do they know what really goes on around here every day. My starts as early as theirs and ends much later than theirs does and that is every day that they work. I am lucky enough to have a great husband who lets me sleep in until all of 8:00 on the weekends, maybe as late as 9:00 and I am so happy to have those extra hours. Keeping up with Max and Charlie is a full time job in itself! It isn't just about keeping the house clean or grocery shopping. Its about keeping up with Vanderbilt doctors and medicines and making baby food and keeping up with Max's appointments for his teacher to come and work with him once a week! I do alot and while our home is never neat and tidy and there is always laundry to be done, I play with my kids and make sure they feel loved and safe. I miss going to work everyday. At one point in time I had a great career and the potential to make great money. I traded in my business suits and briefcase for yoga pants and a diaper bag. I miss adult interaction and getting a paycheck every week. I don't get paid to do laundry or dishes. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE being a mom and I LOVE my kids with everything I have but I am just as tired at night as my husband and friends who go to work everyday. They all say that even though they work all day they come home and do family stuff and do my job at night. Just because it is 5:00 doesn't mean I clock out and stop. There is tons to do and granted I have Chas who is wonderful in the evening and really steps up to give me a break. I am working now in the mornings in addition to keeping up the stay at home mom stuff and coaching soccer and going to school fulltime and taking Catie and Max to gymnastics once a week. I am blessed to be working for a great women who I love to death and I am blessed to be able to take my boys with me and be 2 minutes from Catie's school. I am still tired! I do enjoy spending time with Grandmother and enjoy the adult interaction as limited as it may be some days.

So this afternoon Chas gets home from work around 2:30 and we sat and talked about our day and he headed off to the bus stop to get Catie from her first time EVER riding the school bus. I worried about that child all day and the fact that she was taking this huge step towards being more "grownup" as she puts it! So Chas calls me from the bus stop to ask me if Catie knew she was supposed to ride the bus and I answered yes I was sure she knew as a ball of fear hit my stomach. I immediately called Karen since she lived by the school and all I said was Catie wasn't on the school bus. She said she was on her way to the school and I hung up and called the school. Some lady answered the phone and here is how the conversation went:

"Byars Dowdy Elementary, can I help you?"

"Yes, my daughter wasn't on the bus"

"Is her name Candi?"
"No! It's Catie"
"Batcheler?"
"Yes thats her! Is she okay?"
"Yes, she got on the wrong bus"
"Come again? The WRONG BUS!"
"Yes ma'am, please hold"
...........(me on hold worrying and about to cry)...............
" This is Ms Blackburn, the principal, I have the bus driver on the radio"
"AND??????"
" Your daughter got on the wrong bus and we are trying to figure out where she is right now"
"Okay, where is she?????"
" The bus driver said he will drop her off at the bus stop in 15 minutes, please be waiting for her"
(Like Im going to sit on my couch and wait?? Yeah right)

I said thank you and headed out the door to walk to the bus stop and wait....and wait.....and wait.............

15 minutes later I see the bus coming up the street and I can see one little child sitting in the front and I suddenly wanted to cry. The bus stopped and off ran my Catie and she was so composed until she got into my arms and she totally lost it! She cried and cried and cried. She was so scared. I later learned she kept calm when she realized she was on the wrong bus and answered all the questions that were asked and didn't crack even a little. I was terribly proud of her and very upset with the school. I think it is a little irresponsible to expect a child who has never ridden the bus before to remember the bus number and find the bus and follow all the rules and regulations that comes with riding a bus. She was probably nervous as can be and it didn't help that another little girl told Catie to go on that bus just to be hateful. I am writing her bus number in her hand in permanent marker tomorrow to help her remember. I am grateful that a potentially bad situation had a happy ending and while I think the school was negligent in not helping a child to the bus that is not only a new student but a new bus rider, they handled the situation very well and Catie made it home safe and sound. Im glad to have her home safe and sound and pray she isn't traumatized forever.

Well I am off of here for tonight. Max threw up all of his dinner and feed and smells terrible and now Charlie is up in the bath tub screaming. Joy Joy Joy!