Bus Drama

Dear Lila,

We thought you being a camp bus monitor would be pretty straightforward and uneventful. We were wrong.

During the second week of camp, the regular bus driver was out one day and the substitute driver showed up with a handicapped bus, which only had three seats. There are about a dozen kids on your bus so three seats that each fit two kids = not enough seats. You texted this info to me and I told you to call the camp immediately, as making kids stand up while driving on the highway for an hour and a half = soooo not safe. The administrator at camp instructed the bus driver to wait at the next stop until the bus company could send a new bus that would accommodate all of the kids. In the end, it worked out. A mom at the next stop bought everyone Munchkins to snack on while you all waited for the replacement bus and you were only an hour late for camp that day. As an apology for the inconvenience, the camp even gave everyone on the bus a $100 credit and a coupon for a free camp T-shirt.

Then today, you noticed that one of the kids, a young 9-year-old boy, seemed really upset. You asked him what was wrong and he eventually told you what was bothering him: he said his archery teacher had told him to kill himself and then aimed the arrow at his heart. Um, what now? You have the same archery teacher and you said that didn't sound like her at all but the boy had made a pretty serious accusation, so you emailed the bus administrator and also messaged the boy's dad. The administrator said she would talk to the deans immediately. The dad talked to the boy and discovered that he had made the story up because he had broken a rule in class and the teacher had made him sit in time-out. You emailed the administrator about this and she thanked you for the update. The dad said he talked to his son about the fact that words have consequences. He also said you did the right thing.

Whew, that was more drama than expected and way above your pay grade! I'm proud of you for handling each situation gracefully. I'm also glad that you came to me for advice on how to deal with both issues. Please know that I will always be here for you and try to help if I can!

Love,

Mom