Miss the bus

My daughter missed the bus this morning. As I was pulling out of the driveway at 7:03 a.m., prepared to speed down to the bus stop at the end of our short dead-end road at Smokey and the Bandit pace, the bus pulled up on Route 9G, stopped briefly, and continued on its way. Without Natalie. I pounded my fist on the steering wheel. Dang it. Another morning I gotta schlep this girl up to the high school. This was NOT in my morning blueprint!

We started north on Route 9G, I switched the radio to NPR. Natalie didn’t go to switch it to her “hit” music stations, the ones that make me grit my teeth in angst. I started asking her about school. What tests or quizzes did she have today? How’d that geometry test go yesterday? What’s your thoughts on junior year schedule? Weighing the risks/rewards of AP, honors or regents classes. We had a good conversation. A good back and forth. Her face was not buried in her phone. My mind was not wandering to the NPR story. She was not listening to the music I don’t like. We had a conversation for a good solid 8 minutes. I dropped her off at school, wished her luck at the track meet later. As I was driving back home, I realized that in moments like these, I enjoyed taking my daughter to school. Her missing the bus threw my morning schedule into a tizzy, but that’s OK. There are blessings in everything, even a not-well-planned morning for a sometimes moody 15-year-old girl.

Soon enough, there won’t be a bus to miss. Soon enough, she may be driving herself to school. Soon enough, she’ll be off at college near or far. Soon enough, there won’t be high school courses to discuss. Soon enough, she’ll blossom into adulthood, like our soon-to-be graduating seniors here at Marist, ones who not so long ago were procrastinating 15-year-old girls themselves. And soon enough, these quiet, soft car ride conversations will fade into memory, like the bus she missed, into the rearview mirror of our lives. So next time -- maybe as soon as tomorrow! -- perhaps I won’t be pounding my fist on the steering wheel. Next time, missing the bus once more will make the beginning of my day a little bit brighter. Especially if there’s a warm coffee in the cup holder.