Comments on Mrs. Dub: HTT - School Time!

I have 20 kids (or close enough) and buses are so ...

2008-11-20T00:11:58.762-06:00

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.

It's really all about the convenience for this laz...

2008-11-19T23:16:49.824-06:00

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.

You really want another opinion? OK, well here it...

2008-11-19T20:55:20.919-06:00

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).

I already know I'm going to be driving my daughter...

2008-11-19T15:22:10.743-06:00

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).

I'm in for the school bus. Unless I heard somethin...

2008-11-19T14:18:21.758-06:00

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.

School bus YAY! It is a rite of passage. (It won't...

2008-11-19T13:43:36.299-06:00

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!

My little K girl rides the bus. Day #2 she decided...

2008-11-19T11:37:31.813-06:00

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?

wow - there was not a day in my life as a grade-sc...

2008-11-19T07:41:12.256-06:00

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!

I think that school lunch could probably be its ow...

2008-11-19T07:23:52.095-06:00

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.

School bus- If you can go without, totally go wit...

2008-11-19T02:59:28.352-06:00

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!

School bus, school bus, school bus. Yea. I let my ...

2008-11-18T20:36:15.988-06:00

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.

I'll reverse the order (because of level of compli...

2008-11-18T18:19:34.438-06:00

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.

LOVE the school bus!!!! I pack a snack...when the ...

2008-11-18T14:58:58.052-06:00

LOVE the school bus!!!!

I pack a snack...when the boys are full days in school I think I will send a packed lunch.

school bus-Yea....most of the time as long as they...

2008-11-18T14:49:19.883-06:00

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!

school bus? depends how far from school you are. m...

2008-11-18T14:45:22.265-06:00

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.)

My daughter is in preschool and rides the bus. I h...

2008-11-18T14:37:33.958-06:00

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

I would love to have my kids ride the bus. I woul...

2008-11-18T14:23:50.920-06:00

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 a first grader and I swore I would ...

2008-11-18T14:03:02.049-06:00

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 am crazy and drive my kids to a school really fa...

2008-11-18T13:43:39.672-06:00

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.

We use the school bus; we are second to the last s...

2008-11-18T13:30:23.040-06:00

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 would vote for school bus, unless there are craz...

2008-11-18T12:49:54.474-06:00

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.

Because we homeschool, those aren't choices that I...

2008-11-18T12:25:49.671-06:00

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.

We are charter schoolers, and there is no bus, so ...

2008-11-18T11:23:55.790-06:00

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.

I would be money those of you that are scared of t...

2008-11-18T11:20:43.992-06:00

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!? ;)

I am still debating the lunch thing. I was thinkin...

2008-11-18T11:18:55.255-06:00

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!