Rumor has it that our regular school bus driver was back on the route this morning. If I had known she was going to be out there, I might have put on something a little nicer than my pink elephant flannel pajamas so that I could run out and give her a big, wet kiss. Have I mentioned that having a substitute bus driver suuuuucked? Because it sucked. A lot.
Half of the reason it sucked was because of the interruption to our routine. Call me crazy, but I kind of like it when my kid gets picked up and dropped off on time. Having my kid arrive at home over an hour after she was supposed to seemed like a special form of torture. I knew there was a sub and that the whole late thing could happen, but that didn't stop me from wondering if something else had happened. Imagination is a crazy thing. I started at car accident and ended up somewhere around Alexis shoving the substitute bus driver out of the seat, picking up a bunch of her friends, and driving the stolen bus to Florida. KINDERGARTENERS GONE WILD! WOOO!
The other half of the reason it sucked was that our regular bus driver is nothing short of fantastic. She's energetic and sweet and Alexis positively adores her. Anyone who can put up with Alexis' non-stop talking and singing and talking and singing for nearly two hours each and every day deserves a medal. Anyone who can do it and still be smiling at the end of the day is forever someone I will adore. And we adore her.
Especially because The Incident that happened yesterday would NEVER happen with our regular bus driver on duty.
I was in the house when Alexis returned home after school. She came bursting into the house with a worried look on her face. As she threw her coat on the floor and her backpack on the stairs, she yelled for me. "Momma! Momma!" she yelled.
"Yes, Alexis," I said as I glared at the debris she had scattered all about. If anyone ever finds a cure for Throw-Everything-On-The-Floor-itis, I will pay $1000000000000 for a single drop.
"Momma, the bus driver said that fairies go away when you get older!" she reported with a frown. She was so very serious, so very worried, so very Six. She wants to believe in magical things. Forever.
I was not amused. At all. We don't lie to Alexis about the magical aspects of childhood, but we certainly don't do anything to smother her enthusiasm. People who smother her enthusiasm make me all sorts of Furious George.
I asked Alexis what she thought about the theory that fairies go away when you get older as I quickly grabbed my coat. We needed to run to the store and I wanted to leave immediately. Alexis never really managed to answer my question thanks to the chaos of dogs and cats and trying to leave. Instead, she ran outside so that she could get in the car as I had instructed her.
Of course, Alexis can't just get into the car. She has to follow a twisty path of curiousity and wonder as she winds her way through the dining room, down the stairs, across the basement, past the patio, and to the driveway. She was distracted by shiny things all along the way.
I stood in our kitchen and waited. I knew she would eventually meander to one particular corner of the patio. I wanted to be looking out the window when she did.
It didn't take long.
The kid cannot walk through our back yard without stopping to visit the fairy garden.
She saw it immediately. I know she saw it immediately because she started jumping up and down and pointing.
An itty bitty snowman had appeared in the fairy garden.
Alexis ran back into the house yelling for me to hurry up so she could show me something. She was still bouncing with excitement as I walked out the door.
I can say with the utmost certainty that fairies do not go away as you grow up. You just have to learn to see their magic with a different set of eyes.