Bad Weather & Lockdowns

Here in the great state of daily thunderstorms and hurricanes we get some really good downpours in the afternoon. Do I own at least one umbrella for walking Aidan to the bus stop? I do...somewhere...in a closet...or was it in the car? Needless to say, I can't find a single umbrella! Bus stops are not fun in the rain. Mud puddles with clean white socks are not fun in the rain. (Maybe to Aidan)

Yesterday (Tuesday) It was time for Aidan's bus to be dropping off the kids when I receive a phone call from Aidan's teacher...The children are still at the school on lock down because of all of the lightning and flash flooding. I'm really glad she called. I could hear chaos in the background. The teacher put me on hold to calm down a little girl who was scared and her mommy was now coming to get her from the school instead of riding the bus home. I hear the word "Lock down" and I fear the worst... When they are crimes and police chases or anything of the sort, in the area of a public school, the schools are put on "lock downs" until the crisis is taken care of. I feel better knowing it's just the weather. I didn't like it when the teacher informed me that it is their policy for the bus drivers to also stop and if the weather is too bad, to bring the kids back to the school so the parents can pick them up there. Thankfully, the weather let up enough for the buses to continue and needless to say Aidan arrived safely home about an hour later than usual.

p.s. I called Rachel's mom to see if she had heard the news and she had not. (Skylar was still sick so Rachel's mom was going to pick up Aidan & Rachel from the bus stop for me) Luckily Aidan's teacher was calling all of her student's parents but not the other teachers in the higher grades (Rachel is in 2nd).I bet after Aidan's first day of school bus fiasco, I was first on her calling list :), she definitely reassured me on the phone that Aidan was ok and he would be coming home soon. I feel bad for all of the other parents who sat in the rain at bus stops for about an hour waiting for their kids to come home not knowing why they were so late...Don't bother calling the school to find out why, the lines were busy the entire time.

*Note to self: buy a large umbrella*

Yesterday I just so happen to be waiting for Aidan to get home so I could go grocery shopping otherwise the delay really wouldn't have bothered me. Now I was shopping an hour late, which put me into 6 o'clock traffic when we left the grocery store, which put me late into making dinner and now I have 2 children in the backseat of the car starving and chanting "we want french fries" *sigh* Damn Thunderstorms!

I really wish I could remember to not wear my flip flops when I go grocery shopping in the rain. My feet get soak & wet, then freezing cold as you step in the grocery store, plus you Hydro-plane on any flat surface until your flippies dry. Of course my little independent Skylar had to walk in the rain next to me from the store back to the car as opposed to riding in the shopping cart so I could at least run to the car in the pouring rain but Nooooo Miss Independent is all about me letting her walk like a big girl.

**Moral of today's story: Always keep an umbrella by your front door & if you are on a tight grocery shopping schedule and it's raining...don't bother, just order a pizza and shop the next day :)