The Bus Episode

I had asked Drew to get himself off to school without my having to get him up and going. He looked at me like I was slightly touched in the head and assured me he was perfectly capable of getting up and out the door on his own. After all, he IS 15! Ah, good. I can rest awhile longer in the morning.

Normally I am ok with getting up at 6 to see him off, and I have always encouraged him to take care of packing lunch, getting breakfast, learning to care for himself. But I have been kind of tired and it might help if I slept a bit longer in the morning, especially since those guys have kept me up later than normal at night.

Lately, he has been crawling out of bed later and later, adopting the view that one can roll out of bed, into clothes and out the door. He pays for it by not eating lunch at lunchtime and being extra hungry if he also misses breakfast. You would think he would figure out that being lazy is not worth the price you pay to go without.

So this morning, I hear his alarm go off, but I do not tromp into his room to tell him to turn it off and get up. I wait in bed and listen, watching precious minutes fly by. His alarm goes off again, and again it gets ignored. I wait, willing him to get up, to be more responsible. He does not move. Should I break my resolve and climb out and provide an intervention? No. Let him taste the effect of his decision. I am squirming with desire to make him "get it."

He will miss the bus. But he will not miss school. We do have leeway after the bus passes here for me to get him to the school nearby where he changes buses before heading to the east side of the city. I have given up on him. He has made his choice. I will have to get up - - - and suddenly he's up! He stumbles into the bathroom and closes the door. Yeah!

I hear the bus go by outside. Should I tell him? No. Let him find out for himself. I nearly burst giggling while I listen to him pack his bag, zip his coat, unlock the door and tromp up the drive. I wait for his inevitable return. Minutes tick by. If he doesn't hurry, I won't even have time to get him to Munn School. Should I dress? No. I will let it play out and see how he handles it. I listen for his steps outside, for the door to open, but he does not come. Where is he?

If he doesn't come soon, we will miss the Munn bus. I wait, hoping, hoping. At last, I hear him crunch through the snow outside. The door quietly opens. Then - nothing. No Drew peeking in my room to ask for a ride. What is he doing?

Finally I can't stand it any longer. I slide out of bed and head for the living room. He is sitting in the chair, writing something. "Drew. I already know you missed the bus. It came while you were in the bathroom. Why didn't you come and get me?"

"I know you aren't feeling well. You need rest. I didn't want to disturb you. I figured I'd just hafta stay home."

Sweet boy. But not happening. He walks Sugar quickly while I dress. He brushes off the car and we head out, hoping to beat the bus. We pull into the parking lot, and his little bus in not there yet. We made it! AND we had time to explore how the "rolling out of bed" theory doesn't work. He finally admitted it. Maybe, just maybe there is something to getting up a whole half hour before you have to be at the bus stop.

Yeah! Now let's see how long it lasts!