School Bus Chronicles 2021 Part one

Finally, January came. Back to Hybrid after a long break since Thanksgiving. I had hopes that more kids would come but actually, it seemed like I had lost even more and not gained any :( It was sad in a way but still, I was grateful to be working. Driving the run that I had since I first became a School Bus Driver for the Company. In a way, it was strange to only work this run 4 days, on a half-day schedule. In the beginning but hey, 4 days was still better than nothing. It took some time to learn who was on the bus on which days. However, it gave me the chance to learn the names of the few new kids that were added to the run. The nice thing was that we were given Aides from the schools. The strange thing was, it was someone different almost daily. That too was a small hill we conquered and I met some really nice people. The one will always stand out. Ms. Marianne! For whatever reason, we just connected and it was like 2 peas in the pod, like we had known each other for a long time and we had the best conversations and the greatest laughs. Every week, I looked forward to seeing her and it made things so much better. To be honest, I miss seeing her and talking to her, her personality, and the laughter. I only had Aides for the little guys but having someone help me with my youngest, was a HUGE help and I truly appreciate all of them that came and went.

Thank You to all those who have volunteered for a day or more to help out as a School Bus Aide! Your help and dedication truly were and still is appreciated!

The Company was great with me during this time. When I wasn't driving my regular route and a driver was out due to whatever reason and a cover was needed, I got to drive a variety of different schools, on those days and I am truly grateful for that. They kept me working through it all and let me ensure I was able to help with the bills and raising my own kids.

My High School Students

With time things shifted again, and again. Slowly more kids started to come back to school and the bus slowly filled itself again. It kinda was like Magic and it made my heart happy seeing them all. My High School Run was the only one that stayed with a low number of Students but that is ok. I love my High Schoolers. They are great, young adults who don't mind hanging upfront with the Bus Driver and chit-chat. They would tell me about the time they were stuck at home, how much some of them truly hated Remote Learning, the struggles they faced with it, and how easy it was just not to show up to class or fall back to sleep. How it impacted them. I had many conversations about this with one of my High School Students. We talked about what will be next after High School, about what will come after, and how they have to think about the long term of things. We talked about going to College or a Trade School, I often told them, "make sure you get those grades up!" and after a couple of weeks of this, one came to the bus in the afternoon, plopped in a seat, and said "Ms. Anja, I have to tell you something. I was talking to my Mom about it and I hope it is ok, that I told her that you are like a second Mom to me! You always give me good advice like to not give up and stuff"... I actually had to turn around and I know the tears were welling up in my eyes and I was speechless in a way, all I could get out was how honored I am, that one of my students would look at me in this way. You heard it before, you will hear it again, I am no one special, I am just a School Bus Driver! But I am a very proud and honored School Bus Driver!

A little while later, the same student would tell me that he did manage to bring his grades up and yes I am so very proud of him! He also got a job in the meantime and he is doing fantastic with both. Learning time management and keeping his grades up. Trust me, I do check in on him every so often and ask how is school going, how are the grades. I tell them I'm proud of their accomplishments and how well they are doing too. I may just see them for a little while each day, but I do try to make the best of the time I have with them. Listen to what's going on in their lives, talk about world problems, or just be encouraging in any sort of way. We all can make a difference if we choose to do so. #BeKindBeGrateful.

My Middle School Students

With my Middle School Students things have developed rather quickly and the school bus filled up even faster with those and I still am getting "add on's " and I am in my glory!!! I look forward to driving my MS Students just as much as my HS students. A lot of my MS students from the previous year have returned to school and it's been awesome!! The kid I play "rock paper scissors" with before all the time, has a huge interest in automobile things now and particular School Busses! Who'd a thought? Often we talked about the different specs of School Buses, brands, and models. I was floored, to say the least by the knowledge this student has and I actually have learned quite a bit too. In addition, I got a bunch of new students here too but I just love them all! We talked about racism on our way to school the one day, we talked about things that move them, or how they view different things with Covid and life before and during, they keep teaching me and making me a better person every step of the way. One of my MS students won a contest at school and I made sure to tell the student how very proud I was and how hard it must have been to win out of the entire grade. It was wonderful to have one of "my kids" win! It meant a lot to me. These guys have floored me time and time again since we have returned to school. The only day, as I drop them off at one of the stops. A young student stops by my seat and hands me a bag of hard candy with the words "Thank You for always taking us to school and bringing us home safely" - did I cry you wonder? Oh heck yeah, I did!!! Like a hungry baby but if you think that was it you are in for a rude awakening because that hasn't been the first, nor the last time I have cried sitting on a school bus in 2021 and I was a boohoo machine in 2020 too! A few weeks after that first incident, I just had a bad morning at work. I hadn't slept right the night before, got to work and everything was just off for some odd reason or another. That afternoon, one of my students hands me a homemade card that had me in tears, YET AGAIN! Here you go, I will share a picture and you can read it for yourself...

If this doesn't touch your heart then I don't know what will. Well, maybe I have another stunner for you in a little bit. I was touched deeply by this note for sure. This also goes to show you, that even when you think the kids don't see something or won't know something, they do!! They notice not just the big things but even when you just have a bad day, they notice and they may not say anything out loud, they do see things and realize things rather quickly. Sure, you can say, these are Middle School Students and they catch on to things faster than a younger kid but I doubt it...Another thing I love about my MS kids, they ask questions - sometimes a lot of questions but they aren't the kind of questions the little ones would ask. They ask you about your life, they ask about my accent. When I tell them I was born and raised in Germany, they have more questions. From Weather to food, to school there. Some share that they were born in a different country before coming here and we talk about immigration and vacations and the countries, the lifestyles. We learn a lot from one another and it's always a great time. They help me grow my horizon. The week leading up to mother's day, one of the MS Students asked me if I had kids and I told them how I had 3 of them and how they are /were students in the district I drive in and they thought that was the coolest thing ever. When I explained to them that my youngest was in their school, it elevated the conversations even more. I just truly enjoy and look forward to seeing them every day. Learn from them and grow with them. When Mother's Day approached, we talked about it. "What do you do for Mother's day?" when I explained that I am a really down-to-earth, simple person and all I was looking forward to for the day was to be able to have everyone at home for dinner, no one running off because of a game or an activity, just being able to spend the day and time with them, never in a million years, was I expecting what showed up just a few days later. I was out and about on my usual morning run. Finished the HS, and started my Middle School run, greeting them with my usual "Good Morning! :)" with the smile hidden behind the mask but a little pep in the voice so they know I am excited to see them, two of them walked in and I wasn't paying attention to their hands but had my eyes on their faces when the first one stopped and handed me cupcakes with the words " Happy Mother's Day," right before the second one handed me a huge bouquet of flowers with a "Happy early Mother's Day", my face turned beet red and the tears started filling my eyes. I was shocked beyond all good and bad. I couldn't even get a word out of my mouth! I was just shocked and not even a second later the tears started running down my face. I still can't wrap my head around the two!! Next, I get a "Are you crying Ms. Anja" and all I could do was nod and when the words finally came back to me, I kept saying "I'm speechless, I can't believe you guys!!!" They were so excited and one of them started to cry with me. Even as I write about it, the tears keep shooting in my eyes and I keep thinking how truly special I must be for 2 Middle School Students to go out of their way, to do this for me. I am just a School Bus Driver!! They make a difference in my life each and every day! #BeKindBeGrateful

My littlest Students

After Spring Break, we lost the school aides that were given to us and we would be going back to full days, 5 days a week, no more hybrid. Honestly, I was a little nervous. I was spoiled now having had an aide on my bus every day for my little guys and here I was going to be on my own. I knew some of them would give me a run for my money so to say because they are little ones ;) They still try to push their limits a little more and I had a ton of new kids on that run this year too! Besides, I do have a few tricks up my sleeve to keep them behaving. They may not like sitting right up front by the driver but it's what I like to call the "Trouble Bench" and it works like a charm. If they act up too much in the back, they get into the "Trouble Bench" Seat for a few days and they do turn their ways around quickly. I love the laughter and the giggles on the bus but I won't allow them to get out of their seats while I drive, cuss on the bus, or tease, bully another student on my bus. Those things will earn you the "trouble bench". You now may think I am a tough and mean Bus Driver but my main goal each and every day is to make sure that my kids are safe while they are in my care and honestly, we do a lot of fun things on the bus too. For example, I have a small speaker on the bus and the kids get to pick the music I play, in years past, I always had a Friday Fun Box but I haven't brought that back yet, for Holidays, I always make sure I have little gift bags for each of my kids and for Mother's Day, we had a small plant for every child to give to their Mom's. It's simple little things but they always bring a smile to their faces. It's small, simple things but they do know I care even so I am tough sometimes and maybe even being looked at as mean, them being safe is my first priority!

The "littles" as I like to call them, make me laugh a lot with their little stories or things that come out of their mouth without thinking about it long. One of my absolute favorite "The littles Stories" is when one morning I get an excited scream from behind " Ms. Onion! Ms. Onion! Did you know that all Daddies have hairy butts?" I thought I was going to die from laughter that day!! The innocence of a child.

This year, as excited as I am to have my kids back, I am also sad that we still have to wear these darn masks because I am still missing out on that "I lost a tooth" or the big smiles that are still hidden but I have learned to read their eyes so much more! I was so excited the one morning when I was doing my pick-ups, one Mom said, her son really wanted to show me something before getting his mask on and entering the bus and I got to see that missing tooth!! I was excited that it was still so important to him to show it to me. It really made my day special. Just as much as another one of my students who hop off the bus every afternoon and I am not allowed to leave until he pulls his mask off his face and gives me this huge smile that goes from ear to ear and shouts my way "Bye, I see you next time" or the student who told me when I came around to check their seat belts that said, "Ms. Onion, I hope you have a great day when you get home". The student, that walked up to me one day on the way off the bus, who stopped looking at me and gave me the biggest hug without any concern about this stupid virus. Just wanted to share a hug! I cried like a baby the rest of the day. The simple things that aren't allowed because of Corona 19, yet this child didn't care! It was so important to that child to just share that hug. The little sister that is at the Bus Stop waiting for her bus, who plays Monster with me every day. Who growls at me and I growl back and we giggle ourselves silly. The child that doesn't ride my bus but still makes it a point each and every day to wave at me. The child that I had on the bus last year and this year, whenever I come to that stop runs up to my bus, waves, and screams really loud "I miss you!!! " It makes your heart melt. Silly questions like "Ms. Onion, do you sleep on the bus?", or "Can we stop at Wendy's or can we get Joe's Pizza" ... It's those tiny moments that make my day so much brighter and make it special each and every day! At the end of the day, I am more times than not the first person who gets to see a paper they did in school that got a special sticker, or a *star* on it, I am the one who ties shoes right left and in between, and the one who will secure the bus to jump out of my seat to help to either get buckled or unbuckled. Funny enough, the last part isn't as often as it was at the beginning. Many of my littles have learned how to handle the buckles on the bus and when one of them still struggles, there is one of my older littles, who gladly share a helping hand with one of the younger ones. I am truly proud of my littles for being so caring and offering a helping hand, looking out for one another. Our bus is also the spot, where you may find a missing water bottle or a lost jacket, as well as forgotten homework because there was just something in that book bag that was so important that they had to share it that it just fell out... You know, things like that do happen! Another funny thing you can find on our bus is a box of milk bones. A lot of my littles are being picked up with their puppies after all and hey, these puppy's know the moving yellow thing comes, it brings back my little people and a treat too ;) I have one that visits me on the bus. His name is Waffles and I love when he jumps in to say "Hi!", picks up his treat, and moves on.

The hardest day each year...

There is a hard side to being a bus driver too. There will be the day, when you have to say your final "goodbye" because they either start driving, get cars, and grow up, the day the middle schoolers become High Schoolers, the day your littles move on to the next school. It is heartbreaking, to say the least, and it truly hurts deeply. Some of them I drive for a year, others for up to 4 years. I always say, that as soon as they take a step on my bus, they become my children and I will do everything in my power to keep them safe, I will care for them and I will love them and I truly do all these things. Over the time I get to drive them, I learn so much about them and the love for them grows with every passing day. As we are moving closer to that day, I am working on ideas to find something to send them off with. Something special... One of the things we will do for sure is to decorate our bus for the last day of school. We will make it a celebration of sorts, I just have to work out the details for it all. It certainly will be another School Bus Chronicles 2021 part 2 Blog for that one.

Before I go, a shout out...

I would like to send a huge shout-out to my AMAZING PARENTS!!! A huge thank you for raising incredible kids and young adults, who are respectful, kind, and caring! You are doing a fantastic job and you can be proud of yourself!!

A special shout-out to the mom who knows about my "Friday Fun Box" and the donation towards it. The parents who deal with my silliness of "Have a Marvelous Monday", "a Terrific Tuesday", a "Wonderful Wednesday", a "Tremendous Thursday", a "fabulous Friday" and a "wonderful whopping weekend". The parents that when a child writes on a seat and I bring it to their attention, they will send the child on the bus with cleaning wipes and a letter of apology, the parents that understand I am not trying to be mean but keep their kids safe. I say it all the time, I do have the BEST Parents around. I appreciate each and every one of you and I will miss you as much as I will miss your kids!!