Escape out of Routine into a Grand Adventure

It's a beautiful morning here in my little corner of the world. Yesterday was just gorgeous, too. I only had 4 of the children yesterday, so we went on an "adventure". We jumped on the bus that stops almost in front of my house and went to Burger King for the morning. It's amazing, but in our day and age most pre-school children have never had the fun of riding a bus. So it really is an adventure for them.

When I was growing up we were a one car family. My father would take the car to work so that left it up to the city transport system to get my mom, my sister and myself where we wanted to go whenever we left home. We knew the routes well, even as small children. I remember begging my mother when I was in grade 2 to let me ride the bus with my friend, no adults, downtown so we could go shopping at one of the stores. My mother was horrified and it took plenty of convincing but she finally let us. I can hear the gasps now. But you must remember, this was back in the day when the city was much, much smaller and a safe city. And it wasn't the same world as it is today. People didn't even lock their doors when only leaving for a few hours. So she finally aquiesced (good word, eh?). We were on cloud 9. And had a wonderful time with the bus dropping us off right on schedule. Much to her great relief.

When my daughter hit grade 2, I remembered this "gift" from my mom, and I could not imagine letting my child on the city bus by herself to go downtown. She seemed so small, and the city now so big and scary. And it definitely was not the same world. I now understand the pressure we put upon my mom.

Anyway, back to yesterday. In the multi-vehicle per family reality of what we live in today, the kids do not get to ride buses at least until they hit school age, so it's always a fun thing for me to do with them when the opportunity presents itself. And they didn't let me down. They sat in the very back, all in a row, pretending they were driving the bus, complete with the car sounds only little boys can make well, chattering up a storm about all sorts of things they were noticing. And the fascination that came with the knowledge that pulling that yellow cord would make the bus stop, was just too enchanting. And we won't even mention the smiles when the front step of the bus raises and lowers to accomodate their small steps. Lots of thank you's went the bus driver's way.

After a few hours of fun and frolic in the play area of Burger King, and a kid's meal lunch complete with an Indiana Jones toy to bring home, we were back on the bus to come home for a much needed quiet time. For both them and me.

And let's just say I was a very popular person in their little world's yesterday. A fairly small effort for me to make such a grand adventure for them. Yay, for city buses.