The Kid and I

Today was The Kid's first day of kindergarten. Unfortunately, she missed the first two days of school because she was a sickie.

Just after this picture was taken and her bus pulled away, I turned around and cried and cried. Ugly crying as I went back inside. She just shouldn't be old enough yet to be so grown up. She's just a baby!

After I quit blubbering, I spent the rest of the day cleaning her room and going through all her toys, trying to get things organized. By the time it was almost time to go meet her at the bus, I had two large bags of garbage to throw out. When I went to go meet the bus, I took my camera (for a picture of her getting off the bus) and the two bags of garbage. I went to the dumpster and somehow managed to throw the camera away, too. Fan-freakin'-TASTIC! I didn't have time to mess with trying to get the camera out since her bus was due back at any time. Plus it was raining and I was still holding out a little bit of hope that maybe I had just left the camera inside.

Grandmumsy and I went to wait for the bus. The bus comes and kids get off, but NOT THE KID. The bus driver started to pull away and I give him sign language for "Wherethehellismykid-don'ttellmeyoulostheronthefirst day". He goes and checks the whole bus and she is nowhere. At this point I'm freaking out. I'm having visions of her trying to walk home along the very busy street we live on, or all sorts of horrible other thoughts that I don't even want to put into words. The bus driver starts trying to call around to find her and it's taking FOREVER. FINALLY, he tells me that she got on the wrong bus, and she's back at her school. He offered to go to the school and get her, but I thanked him and said I'd rather go and get her myself.

So, we hop into Grandmumsy's car, and drive up to the school and I go racing in thinking she is going to be in hysterics. I go into the office to find her being entertained by her teacher, the office secretary and the principal. I was so proud of her. She realized that she was on the wrong bus and as soon as she realized it and told the bus driver, who took her right back to the school. We never talked about what to do if you got on the wrong bus, because I never thought it would happen.

Anyway, we finally got home and I decided I better try and get my camera from the dumpster, so I took The Kid's robot claw and went out to try and dig it out. Just as I got out to the dumpster, it started pouring rain. I can only imagine what people must have thought seeing a woman, soaking wet, digging in a dumpster with a kid's robot claw. I was probably out there for 15 minutes trying to get the camera out, when one of my neighbors came out and asked if I needed any help and he was able to get my camera.

And that was the story of The Kid's first day of school.