I'll take the hugs

My grandson...  Instead of taking the bus that comes RIGHT past our house this year, we're doing a shuttle bus instead.  So I cart him over to the bus stop every morning and pick him up every afternoon.  The reason for our switch up was that the bus that runs past our house, makes the stop at 7am.  REALLY?!  He'd be on the bus or in the bus room for over an hour every morning and then the same hour or more every afternoon after school.  

Last year he got in enough trouble on the bus.  No need to tempt fate with more time to kill...

So he's doing what his dad and aunts did with the shuttle bus.  When they got their own cars, they stopped riding it.  OR when their friends got cars and they could bum a ride from them until they got their own car and started carting around THEIR car-less friends.

Anyway, yesterday after school, I happened to notice that it was almost time to drive over to the bus stop to get him, so I scrambled and got there just as the buses were driving up to the drop off point.  But since I was the last parent/grandparent to arrive, I parked WAY down the block behind at least 3 minivans of moms who were picking up 5 kids each vehicle.

From a distance I saw him pop around the corner, look furtively around then disappear.  The red shorts helped!

hmmm...  I waited.  He had been instructed to walk down the pickup block and look for me, but he hadn't.

As soon as the minivan moms drove away and I could pull ahead, I pulled around the block and found him walking the sidewalk in despair.  Wow was he shook up and upset with me!!  

YOU WEREN'T THERE!!!  THIS IS WHY I NEED A CELL PHONE!!!!

Um yeah I was... You didn't do what you were supposed to do.  

And nope - your dad and aunts didn't have one and THEY survived!

I was never more than a few minutes late picking them up, if that much, and I won't be with him either.  Especially now.  I've got my alarm set on my phone for the correct time each day.

BUT we reviewed what he should do, in case, for some unknown reason, that I don't show up, what he should do.  Later that night, Robb reminded me of a couple other things Leon could do.  Oh yeah!

So the rest of the day, he was super clingy and wanted to cuddle.  Do you know how awkward but sweet it is to have a 4' 2" gangling kid ask you to put your laptop aside and he climbs into your lap and hug the heck out of you?  Work can wait.

After a while and once I disentangled myself, we made cookies.  Incorrectly.  I misread the back of the cookie packet and since we'd just run out of butter, we used veg oil and instead of a tablespoon of water, we put in an egg.  That's the part I misread.

They didn't have exactly the right consistency for cookies, but Leon still ate a bunch.

Then later while supper was cooking, we cuddled on the big butt chair.

I love that kid...

and I will NOT be late all year.