Missing The School Bus

“Mom, mom, mom! Wake up!” Alyssa heard her little daughter’s rushed voice through the sweet sleep of early morning hours. Not sure if it's a dream or reality, Alyssa did not respond. Then came a gentle push on her shoulder, followed by a harder one, "Mom, wake up, pleeeease!"

Groggy and confused, Alyssa turned to her third grader and opened her eyes, “What is it, baby?”

“Get up, mom! We’ll be late for the school bus!”

“Oh, okay.” Alyssa looked at the clock beside her bed. It showed 8:30 am. The bus would be at their house at 8:35 am. “Oh my God, five minutes! Let’s go, baby, quickly!”

Mumbling to herself, "I can't believe I slept in this late," Alyssa quickly wrapped a robe on top of her pajamas. She pulled her hair into a pony tail as she ran downstairs, losing her slippers. Her steps sounded like stomping in the quiet house: Alyssa's 3-year-old son was still peacefully sleeping and her husband had not yet come back from his night shift at the local hospital where he worked as an ER nurse.

Alyssa was an Army vet and if her military training taught her anything, it was how to put your mind together for making decisions in seconds. “You need to eat something, baby, quickly!” she shot a command at her daughter, rushing to the fridge.

“I already had a bowl of cereal, some juice and an apple, Mom!” her daughter said, beaming with joy of independence. "And even washed the bowl!" she added proudly, pointing at the clean bowl sitting next to the sink.

“Yeah? That's great! Let me quickly fix you your lunch then!”

“Mom, I already made myself a PB&J sandwich!” her daughter showed her a brown bag, continuing to beam with pride and giggling.

“You have?” Alyssa said, noting to herself that they do indeed grow up too fast. “When did YOU get up?”

“I don’t know, like 45 minutes ago, maybe” she lowered her gaze. Alyssa had no time to decide if it was because she was shy or making stuff up.

“Really??? Why didn’t you wake me up then?”

“I don’t know, mom, you looked so happy and peaceful in your sleep. I didn’t want to… you were smiling, too!”

“Wow, I have no words, baby… Considerate AND independent, I’m so very proud of you!” Alyssa said, both perplexed and amused at the same time.

“Hurry up, mom! We don’t want to be late for the bus! You are always so grumpy when you have to take me to school before going to work!” her daughter said excitedly.

“Unbelievable,” Alyssa muttered as her daughter grabbed her by the hand and pulled her outside into the driveway.

The school bus stop was right in front of their house. By the time the bus pulled, there usually were three other moms with their kids waiting. Looking at the deserted street with no cars or any sign of life except for the signing birds, Alyssa said, “Did we miss the bus?”

She looked around, perplexed. The weather was beautiful: After a cold gloomy day and a huge rainstorm a couple of days before, it was finally sunny and warm. Young green grass started to come out in patches on their lawn, and those morning birds could sing a beautiful song. Alyssa listened to the birds for a minute, lost in the sounds and warmth of the spring weather and enjoying the sun rays on her face. Then she looked down at her daughter, glowing with joy and mischief, and repeated, “Did we miss the bus, honey?”

“It’s April’s Fool’s Day, mom!”

Such was life during the times of complete lock-down for the global pandemic in 2020, almost two years ago now.