Soon I (we) will get to describing other details of the past week, but since bus adventures are taking up a great deal of time these days, here is the final word on that for the week and leading us into a relatively bus free weekend.
Yesterday (Thursday) was the first of A's long days at school, from 8 to 3:50. She has this schedule 2 days each week. Ironically it was R's only short day, 8 to 12:30. So, since we have not yet achieved independent riding confidence, the trip home from school involves two round trips for the parents. Fortunately, Tom is still on a very flexible schedule and could make the late ride to get A, saving me the third round trip of the day and allowing O to take a full nap, finally.
I picked R up as planned from her school - we are meeting just inside the main entrance now, not the classroom door- and headed to the bus stop on the other side of the small shopping center standing between the school and the main street. As we were waiting, two of her friends emerged from the shopping center with bakery goodies (there is a bakery on every corner!) and they happily joined us for the ride to the ZOB (Transit center and Train station). This was the first time R had been able to ride with friends!
As we were waiting, I was showing the map I had been carrying around and showed them where we lived and then asked where they live. For kids who are pretty transit-savy, I was surprised that they couldn't find it on the map. Then they asked, in their broken English, if they could come over. Today? I asked. Yes, they wanted to come today. It was pretty forward, I thought, but I had been warned by my German instructor in the US to be prepared for people to just drop in for a visit. I asked if they should call their mother, and they smiled and said yes, but didn't make a move to do so. The bus came and the three girls sat happily together to the ZOB.
At the ZOB, one of the girls asked which was our neighborhood stop and when they should come over. I was confused now, thinking they had intended to come directly with us. Did they mean how long could they stay? No, what time should they come. Oh. Well, 2:00. Then they scurried off to catch their other bus.
I had no idea what to expect after that. Would they call? They had our mobile number but we didn't have theirs. What time would they come? Would I be getting a call from their parents?
Around 2:00 I sent Rosemary down to the bus stop (about 2 blocks away) to see if they were arriving. 5 minutes later she showed up with out them. A few minutes later the door bell rang and there they were! Knowing only our street name and the nearest bus stop, two girls R's age managed to find us on their own! Talk about independence!
So, the girls spent about 1 and a half hours locked up in R's room, lots of giggling coming from behind the door. So happy for Rosemary! Just as abruptly as they came, without any prompting from me, they knew exactly when they needed to be on their way to the bus. As they were pulling on boots and coats, I asked if they would be able to ride with R as far as the ZOB on Friday. One of the girls said that she could. Yay! One less bus ride for me and a bit closer to the goal of independence for the girls.
The next day.....
Schedules were reversed for the girls Friday, with A coming home early enough that I could leave her with O napping and make a "quick" trip to the ZOB and back. I arrived at my first bus stop in plenty of time. So much so that I was caught daydreaming and startled to look up and see the bus approaching, I looked down at my purse to take out my pass, but when I looked up again, the bus spend past! I suddenly learned a lesson n bus stop procedure. Never look down or away as the bus is approaching, otherwise the bus driver takes it as a signal you are not waiting for that particular bus!
The next bus was coming in 20 minutes, cutting awfully close to R's arrival at the ZOB and I was worried she would panic if she didn't see me when she arrived. I decided to hustle to the next nearest bus stop, on a main street where several buses stop on their way to the ZOB, including mine. Surely I could catch another. Ten minutes later, I reached the stop, only to find the other buses either didn't arrive any earlier or not at all that time of day. Well, I would just have to be late and hope R didn't panic.
All the way I sent telepathic messages for R to "stay put". I was not so much worried about her safety and felt she had enough practice with the bus route to know which bus to take and where to get off, but I was concerned about how to find her if she wasn't at the ZOB - would she be still at the school, headed home on her own, or perhaps gone home with her friend who thought that was what I had been asking. Unfortunately, we still have only one mobile phone and I had left it at the house with A to be able to call Tom. I was wishing I had sent a message to school to make sure the English teacher could reinforce the plan: bring her to the ZOB and wait.
When I got to the ZOB, she wasn't there. Managing to keep calm, I checked the bakery while I waited for the next bus to arrive. When she wasn't on the next bus, I decided to head to the school. No one was at the school except the custodian. I managed to communicate that I was looking for the school office and she said everyone was gone. I asked a passing teacher, who claimed not to speak English but sounded like she knew more than she let on. She and the custodian had quiet a discussion, then she wished me luck as the custodian wisked me around the school looking for someone to speak English. As we found no one, I tried to tell her what I needed was someone with a phone, so I could call home to see if she was there (I left our only cell phone at home with Amelia and Oskar). She seemed to understand, continued to search the building, and then, after I mentioned the need of a phone again, she reluctantly pulled one out of her pocket! I handed her the number, written on a paper, to let her dial the ten digits herself.
A answered with a tone that I knew meant she knew why I was calling. Yes, R had come home on her own, in tears. Whew! I told the custodian this - in pantomime- to the custodian and rushed off to take the two buses home again.
I expected R to still be upset when I got home, but she seemed quite happy, even pleased with herself. When I asked her side of the story, she said that she had arrived at the ZOB, hadn't seen me and panicked, taking the first bus for our route. She said on the way home she began to imagine that I had actually been testing her to see what she would do - I'd never do that, I assured her! The tears came after she got to our door and began ringing the bell repeatedly. A, thinking R was goofing around (and with me), ignored the bell. R tried the gate to the back door, found it locked, and tried the door bell again. A finally answered, ready to tell her off.
After going over the new "rules" for what to do in similar and other bus-related situations (first choice, stay put, second choice, go home or somewhere you know is safe and someone would think to look for you), I asked if she would like to continue to come home on her own, and she agreed that she was ready! My brave girl!
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