Dismissal

“Eyes forward! Big steps! Pay attention! Let’s go kindergartners!”

This is what you hear about 100 times when taking the car line around. 

This is what you say about 100 times as well. 

By the end of the day, they are tired, but excited. 

But still, tired.

So they need prodding.

The constant reminder that their feet may actually have to move.

They need to face forward so they don’t walk into people and cars.

So they don’t get mixed up in any of the other 78 lines. (slight exaggeration)

Occasionally, a child who does not belong on a bus winds up on a bus. 

Or a child who is a bus rider ends up in the car line. 

These things happen.

So, as you walk behind (or in front) of the kindergarteners, and you are repeating yourself like an extremely broken record, you are also making sure they don’t get run over by big kids. 

5^th graders sometimes forget they are bigger than kindergarteners.

In fact sometimes it seems that they forget kindergarteners exist.

I ran one over? Where?

So, you are a prodding, protecting, broken record, nudging and pulling small children out of the way.

Then, you are watching as these little kindergarteners jump into cars.

You hope they are jumping into the right car and that they have not suddenly become confused. 

You watch sometimes as they run up to a car, almost open the door, and then realize they have made a mistake. 

It is a process.

There are children who need shoe laces tied.  Ones that lose a shoe altogether. Ones that drop their backpack. Ones that just can’t keep up. 

It is a little chaotic.