If You're a Mom, You Know the Feeling

On a bright, sunny, Wednesday afternoon last week I strolled down to the bus stop just like I do every other afternoon with the dog in tow only to have my daughter step off the bus and the bus driver look at me to say, "Only 1?" "No, there should be 2," holding up my 2 fingers. "Only 1," was all he said back and my stomach churned. Then a little boy in the first seat adds, "I think R missed the bus." A mom's worst nightmare. I could just envision R running to the bus, only to find it gone from the parking lot and I just pictured him sitting on the curb crying, thinking, "I want my mom!"
I whipped out my mobile (they don't call them cell phones here, they're mobile phones) and dialed the school's number immediately. The sweet receptionist answered and after explaining the situation to her, she asked if he was to stay after for any activities. We haven't done any after school activities yet, and I had Matthew, our french teacher waiting in my driveway to start the children's lesson. She would check with the secretary for the elementary and call me back. As you can imagine, the wait for me was horrific and seemed to take an hour. I had already decided to let Matthew start J's lesson and I headed to the school right away.
K recently received a 100 Euro ticket for driving while talking on a mobile, so I had my earphones in (those are legal) and was eagerly awaiting the call from the school.
It came halfway into my drive. They had found him. Whew! Get this...he was playing on the school playground because, "my mom had told me when it was a nice day outside, she was going to pick me up from school." So much for him weeping on the curbside. I found out from a new friend who said he was having the time of his life playing soccer with the other kids!
Since when did he turn 18 and become able to make those decisions? I have to hand it to him, it was a beautiful day out and yes, I had said those words, however, I'm still in charge and call the shots as to when I'll pick him up and when he's to ride the bus (as we discussed on the drive home - I'll e-mail his teacher during the day if that's the case and he should wait for an adult to tell him what to do). The funny thing is, there was a substitute teacher in his classroom that day, so he just told her that he was staying. It would have raised a big red flag with his real teacher, and coming from that same profession myself, I can clearly see how that can happen.

Sidenote: On our drive home he told me he learned a naughty word in french and asked if I wanted to hear it. He learned it, you guessed it, on the bus. Isn't that where they learn everything? It was the french word for "stupid." Yes, he's only 6 and stupid is a bad word at our house. :)