I used to feel like a celebrity guest star at the bus stop. My husband typically meets the school bus in the afternoons, but I pinch hit on occasion. When That Dude and Little Big Boss were in Kindergarten and 1st grade, they treated my (admittedly rare) appearances at the stop as if I had returned from a multi-year stint on the International Space Station. They’d scramble down the steps and out the bus door, faces alight with joy, little arms stretched out wide as they could go.
“Mama, mama!” they’d yell as they flew toward me, “You’re here! You’re here!” I’d crouch down to be at the right height to kiss their round cheeks and then close my arms tight around them. Sometimes they’d run toward me so fast that the force of their greetings almost knocked me over.
You’d think I was the prodigal mother, back after some extended and frivolous absence, instead of the woman who’d tucked them into bed the night before and run her fingers through their sleepy curls before leaving for the office that morning. The intensity of their happiness to find me waiting for them made me a bit self-conscious — I wondered if the bus stop regulars thought I was getting cheap love. Sure, have Big Daddy do the bus stop heavy lifting, the thankless responsibility of being the everyday greeter. Then I had the nerve to waltz in once in while and reap all the glory.
At least I did two years ago. But That Dude and Little Big Boss are in 2nd and 3rd grade now, and having me meet them after school is apparently no longer the novelty it once was. Practically barreling Mama over at the bus stop was so 2015. I was standing in for my husband today when I realized it.
They came down the bus steps one after the other, no real urgency to their pace. One gave me an almost imperceptible head nod, the other a casual hand wave. Yet both made their way toward me, and I thought I might rate a couple of unsolicited side hugs. Instead, That Dude offloaded his backpack on me and Little Big Boss her violin. I’ve gone in a blink from celebrity to coat rack.
Brownie Stew 