Wednesday, September 22, 2010

bus boy

One of the sure signs of autumn, the school bus, is on the road again. I pulled up behind one this morning and found it so entertaining that I followed it for several blocks. Two boys, seated right at the back were clearly having the most marvelous time. There was toe-tapping and shoulder shaking, and periodically, one would throw back his head and sing, who knows what? Well, I suppose the bus driver knows, poor fellow. It made me think of all the cliches about joyous parents celebrating summers end, and despondent children, reluctantly heading back to school. How do these ideas catch on. The truth is probably just the opposite. The kids are feeling bored and restless by the end of August and can hardly wait to get together with friends again. Shopping for new cloths and school supplies, back packs, and running shoes, what kid doesn't love that? And what parent does? Oh they may vicariously thrill to the sight of fresh pink erasers and color coded notebooks, but the line ups, the decisions, the money! And, most parents have enjoyed the extra time summer gives them with their children. Camping, trips to the sea shore, and parks, they are the finer moments of family life, the very times that parents cherish, and they are over for another year. Commercials may show frolicking parents, but the real singing and dancing is being done by the children. Mom and Dad have mixed feelings.

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