Like most youngsters, Miss Dub is fairly obsessed with school buses:
"Look, Mommy, a school bus!"
"Look, Mama, a baby bus!"
"Look, mother, gas prices are low enough that I might go to college now."
"Look, Mama, a baby bus!"
"Look, mother, gas prices are low enough that I might go to college now."
Stuff like that.
Every time we see a school bus, she says, "I ride a school bus all by myself when I get big ... but you come with me, 'kay?"
And I always respond, "I'll probably drive you, because I'm a weird, obsessive mom like that."
But will I?
That got me thinking for the second time this month. Will I be the mom who drives her kids out of kindness and/or safety concerns? I mean, kids on the back of my middle school bus used to smoke, drink and go to various bases without any intervention. And there aren't any seat belts to keep those naughty hands safe.
At the same time, convenience is my friend. If I ever reach my goal of 20 children, I might not have time to personally transport each kid to school. (Unless I get that reality show I'm after, in which case, we'll hire a driver on TLC's tab.)
Same goes for school lunches. I fancy myself a brown sacker, but will I really have the energy to put together a cohesive lunch with food that kids actually like, or will Miss Dub be the only one pulling out cold refried beans and a spoon? Besides, aren't school lunches, like, all healthy these days? And is it cool to buy your lunch now? (It wasn't when I was younger, so I pretended to be put out, but I secretly loved the french bread pizza and ice-cream scooped mashed potatoes.)
So, tell me, dear friends and (more) seasoned mothers -
School bus: yea or nay?
School lunch: pack it or purchase it?
Dish.
Posts
.gif)
37 comments:
School bus-yay, I think.
Brown bag- yay, I think.
I say, I think, because I have yet to have a child of school age. Of course if she goes to the private school where I taught I would have to drive her. Because the bus route is very limited. Of course, my funds are pretty limited and so she will most likely not be going there.
school bus- depends on where you live. How bad are those back of the bus boys?? How close is the school?
brown bag- no! re-usable lunch box, of course! school lunches are as nasty as ever.
I have the same dilemma about the school bus - I think the first day of school, I will have to let him ride the bus (and get the obligatory picture), but then I will drive to school and wait for him to get off the bus and walk him into his first day myself!
I think you'll have to wait to decide about the school lunches - I imagine it will depend on what's being served on any particular day. Miss Dub can be a "balanced" kid and do both school lunches and lunches from home.
school bus, nada. we live too close and it freaks me out anyway. maybe later if we move and they are older, but it still might freak me out. the kids are picky about what days they will buy - chicken tenders and tater tots will get a yay.
my husband vowed that our kids would never ride the school bus. something about rowdy and/or controversial things that were said and/or done on the bus when he was young. this translates into me having to drive the kids to school in perpetuity. i don't mind that much, though. if they take the bus, they usually have to be ready a good 20 minutes earlier than car riders.
as for lunches, my kids take theirs most days. i don't know if there's a stigma attached to buying lunch anymore, maybe not in second grade anyway. my daughter buys lunch if they're having something i know she'll eat. and no, not all school lunches are healthy these days. they offer healthy options, but i don't think most kids choose the chef salad over the pepperoni pizza. :)
NO on the school bus. I let my kindergartner ride the kindergarten only bus last year that took home only the half day morning kids, but now that he's in 1st grade... no way I'd let him ride with all of those 5th & 6th graders. Plus we live at one of the last stops, so he'd be on the bus for 50 minutes. I can drive to the school in 5.
The school sends home a menu, so he picks what days he wants to buy. He always picks the pizza days and the chicken tenders. Other than that, he brings his own. But they DO offer lots of healthy options. And school lunch is CHEAP!
So I say NO on the bus. And whatever the kid wants for lunch.
We don't have the bus option at our school and I am happy to drive them; school's only a few minutes away and we carpool so I only drive in the mornings. As for lunches, they do have many more choices these days; and in our district the kids have the option of PB&J or "yogurt pack" if they don't like the hot lunch. It's a little more expensive than it costs for me to pack their lunch ($2.25 in our district), but nice to have the option on busy mornings. AND - now there's this thing called mylunchmoney.com where you can go online and add money to your child's account, and see what they choose to eat on any given day. So, it's nice to be able to log on and see that they're not living off little smoky links.
NO WAY to buses. too many horrible memories of horrible kids. my kids will get a backbone somewhere else.
and school lunches? i guess that depends on my kids. we haven't crossed that bridge yet.
I will have a school aged one next year and here is what I think I'll do.
Elementary school - drive or walk
Middle school - bus
High School - he can hoof it ;)
As for lunches -- I'll pack lunches. From what I understand, they really aren't much healthier than they used to be. Kind of gross really. And, because he can't have dairy, and we don't eat meat...yeah, it'll be better for me to pack it for him.
school bus- nay!!
brown bags- yay!!
I totally agree about what happens on buses. I'm sure I'll let my kids try it once, but that's it!
And brown bagging it is so much healthier than school lunches.
My kids ride the bus because I have little ones sleeping and I don't want to wake them up, bundle them, and drive. The bus driver is very alert to rowdiness and even mine was called into the principal's office yesterday. I love our school bus system--the elementary is K-5, so the oldest kids are only a couple years older than mine and the younger kids all have assigned seats near the front. I let my 2nd grader pick whether he wants to buy or take lunch--he always chooses buy because that's cooler and they always have a hoagie/hot dog/hamburger option if he doesn't like the main dish. It has made my life a lot easier in the mornings.
I am still debating the lunch thing. I was thinking just the cafeteria until her teacher suggested packing. That's a bad sign, right!?
As for the bus, she's gettin on it in 29 days, the second she starts school. No question!
I would be money those of you that are scared of the school bus are scared of public transportation too. What's life without a little adventure!? ;)
We are charter schoolers, and there is no bus, so I must drive clear across town (to a different town if you want to get all technical, and I know you do) twice a day. Even when gas prices were out of control, it was worth it - at least for us (if you saw the alternative you would pass out).
School lunches for my kids, all the way. I am too busy and too forgetful to make lunches. I have a hard enough time remembering to pack a healthy snack for snack time each day. I do glance at the menu every month and only order on days when I know my kids will eat, so I usually end up packing lunches a couple times. Here's the thing though, our school lunches are incredible. All organic, super healthy, really tasty, and bought from local vendors - no in-school cooking facilities.
More than you wanted to know? Yes. Are my kids wandering around naked, playing with knives because of lack of supervision? Probably.
Then my job is done.
Because we homeschool, those aren't choices that I'll have to make, but if I did, I'd say...
school bus-nay
brown bag-both
In many areas school lunches are much better than they used to be, offering healthy choices, no fried foods, etc. I think it should be based on the child.
As for the person who said the people who wouldn't let their children ride the bus probably feel the same way about public transportation. I think that's an unfair assumption. Would I ride public transportation with my children? Yes, because therein lies the key difference... I would be riding with them, supervising them and their interactions with others around them.
I would vote for school bus, unless there are crazies on it. Where we used to live, in the morning they picked up everyone...kindergarteners to seniors in high school. Not cool.
As for the lunch, it would get pretty expensive, for us right now, it would $80 a month. Also, my girls refuse to eat a good portion of it. SO, they usually get to pick a meal once a week and pack the rest of the time.
We use the school bus; we are second to the last stop & we are two minutes from the school. All the younger kids sit up front & one side is for boys, the other for girls.
My first grader occasionally has hot lunch if it's something she likes. They offer a lot of veggies & fruit with milk, which she eats, so I think it's rather healthy. She packs her own lunch some days, too.
I am crazy and drive my kids to a school really far away, so the bus is not an option. There are days when I long for them to ride the bus so I don't have to drive anywhere. I think if I had one kid old enough to look out for the younger siblings then I'd let them take the bus.
I'm probably a bad mom but if my kids want to take their lunch, they have to make it themselves. Most of the time they're lazy like me and just buy. Their school lunch is cheap and I can't pack a lunch that cheap anyway. However, I love one option at their school: lots of outside picnic tables where parents are encouraged to come have lunch with the kids and can bring a "special" lunch (fast food) if they want.
My daughter is a first grader and I swore I would make her lunch everyday and put an I love you note inside.
Until, she demanded to buy school lunch because that is what the cool kids do. And, its waaaay easier than freaking out because you ran out of juice boxes Sunday night.
So now I put the I love you note in her folder.
I hated the bus! I liked walking home because it was a nice way to decompress after school. I drive my daughter now because she's only 6. I'll probably let her walk home when she's older and meet her half way.
I would love to have my kids ride the bus. I wouldn't have to leave the house, or use so much gas. However the bus my son is assigned to ride takes 50 minutes to get to the school!!!! Way too long, I think. I can't guarantee my kid or the other kids will behave for that long. Plus we sometimes haven't even eaten breakfast by the time the bus would pick him up. So I take him everyday -it's a ten minute drive for me.
He also takes his lunch to school. The reusable insulated lunch bags are great. Just pop reusable ice in there to keep it fresh. He really wants to buy lunch, but it's $2 (I could make a weeks' worth of lunches with $2). One day he "rebelled" and took his own money to school and bought lunch. He regretted it later when he didn't have the money to buy something else.
My daughter is in preschool and rides the bus. I have a friend who says " how can you put your baby on the bus", as If I am cruel and heartless for letting her ride less than a mile to school
she does have a seat belt on her bus too.
I drive her 1/2 the week as well, so my guilt is absolved
school bus? depends how far from school you are. my parents lived 20 minutes away from my high school... definitely bus.
school lunch - we let our oldest buy lunch once/week. she's six and she's responsible to make her lunch. (i'm kinda lazy.)
school bus-Yea....most of the time as long as they aren't on them for too long
brown bag-yea! School lunches cost way too much and they are always hungrier when they get home, plus they consider a Little Debbie as part of the main meal...ACK!
LOVE the school bus!!!!
I pack a snack...when the boys are full days in school I think I will send a packed lunch.
I'll reverse the order (because of level of complication) -
School Lunch - easy yay. The majority of children buy their lunches now. In our district for I think it's a very small fee (like cents) you can put money in their lunch account online and even see what your children are buying with it. Fried Foods are more expensive at high school than healthy alternatives so if they want them it will cost them.
The bus is trickier. We've lived all over throughout my children's school career. In one area the bus wasn't even an option. It might have been when they reached high school, if we paid for the public transportation bus pass.
In most of their elementary schools where the bus was an option then they rode the bus. There really weren't any problems, but they usually had a short ride and the schools went to 5th grade.
Middle school is when they had issues and I ended up driving even my tough child. Middle school is horrible. And the ride wasn't long, the drivers just weren't able to keep things under control and both my children who rode those buses were ready to drop out of school. One expressed feelings worse than that - all due to things happening on the bus.
They hit high school and poof - things were fine again. But then I drove them in the morning and they rode it home in the afternoon. Sometimes they walk - although the school doesn't like to "Know" that as officially there aren't any walking zones since they have to walk by a major area road (not cross it and there is a sidewalk).
See - like I said... Riding the bus isn't just a simple yay or nay.
School bus, school bus, school bus. Yea. I let my oldest start riding halfway through first grade (when I had baby #4) because I was sick of picking her up and she had a good friend in her class that got off at the same stop...which was the first stop and I could see it from my front porch. Now we're in a new neighborhood and she's in third grade and still rides and her first grade little brother rides with her and they have two good friends in the neighborhood they ride with and it's perfect. I would never go back.
Unless.
Some rotton good-for-nothing kids started riding their bus. I ask them all the time if the other kids on the bus are good kids, have they heard any bad words, dirty jokes, bullying, etc and so far so good.
Brown bagging is not a choice because my two school-agers are both allergic to peanuts. I'm not taking chances with food from the cafeteria. Even if they weren't though, I'd probably still pack lunches because I'm cheap.
School bus- If you can go without, totally go without it! I hated taking the bus. It took like twelve minutes to get to school when my mom drove me, but took an HOUR when I rode the bus. There were so many scuzzy boys on that bus. Yuck. Not to mention the weird bus drivers. No thank you.
Brown bag- I always loved getting school lunches. They are supposed to be healthier now, but it's all relative... so I'm not sure how healthy they actually are (that and I haven't had one for about eight years). But they are sooooo good!
I think that school lunch could probably be its own hot topic...
I don't know of anywhere that a school considers a "Little Debbie" as part of a main meal. If they do have something like that, they are not counting it as anything of nutritional value. Our local school districts don't even serve desserts such as cookies or cakes except on special occassions, such as their holiday meals.
wow - there was not a day in my life as a grade-schooler when brown-bagging was cool. no, really. we sometimes made fun of those kids... but let's be honest, kids are fickle, so we all ended up swapping friends at some point. there were times that my sister and i would make our own lunches, but it rarely lasted - partly b/c we were lazy and partly b/c it wasn't as cool.
as for the bus - i loved riding the bus, but then again, i always sat in the back of the bus with the 'naughty' kids that you've all mentioned. c'mon - those were the cute boys!
My little K girl rides the bus. Day #2 she decided to sit in the middle of the bus with her friend and they heard BAD WORDS. So now mean Mommy Marian asks her to sit in the front seat next to the driver and all is well. I plan on her and her sibs sitting in the front for eternity. She's cool with it and I don't have to delay nap time or cut nap time short for the other 3 still at home. Yipee buses.
Also yipee home lunches. I taught jr. high and the food was grossssssssss. Is anything mass produced really healthy?
School bus YAY! It is a rite of passage. (It won't kill them) and YOU get a few extra minutes at home without having to brave the carpool line, and TRUST ME, it is UGLY. Lunch? Pack it. However, my daughter is OBSESSED with eating school lunch (most other kids think it is gross!) I let her have it once a week, just so I don't go on the worst mom of the year list!
I'm in for the school bus. Unless I heard something particularly alarming in comparison to the regular back of the bus antics. I mean, being exposed to such back of the bus antics, bus riding rules, and bus related social negotiations are rights of passage and valuable learning opportunities.
Like I said, unless there was something truly alarming, like anything else "public" I can discuss the morality and impact of certain situations with my child at home. As long as they learn from the parents what is expected of them and others, and that not everyone is raised with the same values, I believe I will be doing my job and they get to "experience" the bus.
I already know I'm going to be driving my daughter next year, because I've heard horror stories from my neighbors--they bus the middle schoolers with the elementary kids. NOT A FAN. Apparently it's pretty unpleasant.
As far as lunches go, I'm a fanatic about what my kids eat (no high fructose corn syrup or partially hydrogenated oils, for starters) so we'll definitely be packing lunches.
On this note, the lunch thing is how my parents taught us about budgeting--they gave us all the money each month that they would spend on us for things like purchasing lunches, buying milk (my mom figured it was easier to buy milk at school than have to clean out the spoiled nastiness if someone forgot to drink it), any miscellaneous expenses, etc. It worked out to about $20 a month when I was nine or ten. Anyway, we very quickly figured out that if we packed our own lunches (my parents provided everything, but we had to actually make the lunch ourselves), the cash added up pretty quickly.
So we ALWAYS brought--and made!!--our own lunches, and reveled in our little hoard of cash. (my parents also made us keep track of every penny in a notebook provided for the purpose, and if we couldn't account for where that month's money had gone, we didn't get money the next month. Which, let me tell you, has translated into some serious financial planning skills in every one of my siblings and I).
You really want another opinion? OK, well here it goes....
School buses come way too early, so I say carpool.
And school lunches are NOT healthier these days. I have been packing my 12 year old's lunch since kindergarten. It's a labor of love. My second grader on the other hand will eat just about anything, except turkey and that ice cream scooped mashed potatoes, which incidentally is on the menu for tomorrow, so tomorrow it's PB&J, baked Doritos and homemade graham cracker sandwiches with cream cheese icing (it's like a portable piece of cheesecake, soooo good).
It's really all about the convenience for this lazy mama. It's also about what the child wants. My kid would be devastated if he couldn't ride the bus with his friends.
As for the lunch, I also let him decide. If he doesn't think he's going to eat the entree offered, he asks me to send him with something.
Now I totally sound like that parent that's going to get walked all over come teenage-hood.
I'm going to go yell at him right now for no reason just to prove a point.
I have 20 kids (or close enough) and buses are so convenient. But I hate the thought of one adult supervising 72 kids while driving. I compromise and drive in the AM and have them ride the bus in the PM. At the first school we attended, we boycotted the bus after witnessing a bullying incident at the bus stop. If I ever thought riding the bus was subjecting my children to physical, emotional, or moral harm, I never let them ride again.
Lunch - I bagged for 4.5 years. Then I was with my son in the hospital for a month and my girls had to buy the school lunch. They begged to continue. I was amazed at how much my mornings were simplified so I'm now a fan. They still ask to bring once a week or so when they don't like what's on the menu. I have 20 kids (or close enough) and buses are so convenient. But I hate the thought of one adult supervising 72 kids while driving. I compromise and drive in the AM and have them ride the bus in the PM. At the first school we attended, we boycotted the bus after witnessing a bullying incident at the bus stop. If I ever thought riding the bus was subjecting my children to physical, emotional, or moral harm, I never let them ride again.
Lunch - I bagged for 4.5 years. Then I was with my son in the hospital for a month and my girls had to buy the school lunch. They begged to continue. I was amazed at how much my mornings were simplified so I'm now a fan. They still ask to bring once a week or so when they don't like what's on the menu.
Post a Comment