Getting up on school mornings

On the repeating days of having to go to school, there's always that pet peeve that you may have hated when going. Maybe it's a big test to study for, not wanting to go to gym class, or even trying not to get your lunch stolen. For me (and probably one of the most relatable ones) was having to get up early in the morning to prepare for the school bus.

Now in the years of kindergarten and preschool I didn't have much to worry about because my lunches were already prepared, though I was quite fussy at the time with putting on clothes so early in the day. In those days I had to get up as early as dawn only to come back at around 1 to 2 p.m. and I didn't have to wait outside for the bus to arrive, but cut to my school years of 3rd to 5th grade, and this is where the changes began to occur.

At the mobile home park where I spent most of my elementary years, my mom would have to drive me over to the entrance of the mobile home park to wait for the bus, rain or shine as the road inside the park was too narrow for the bus to make a U-turn in.

By the time I'd reached 4th grade I had to eventually learn how to make my own lunches, while very rarely getting Lunchables boxes and now waking up around 7 a.m. for preparation. On top of that, my parents were also beginning to work more flexible hours at their jobs, so sometimes I would get left with my older brother or sister before they got back home, though more often than not they would go out somewhere instead of being cooped up in the house all weekday afternoon.

Eventually as my older sister moved away and I moved on to middle school, I would soon be left with the task of bringing a spare house key to school with me while my brother was working at a job in between his time out of school, because of this new responsibility, I sometimes would forget to bring it with me, then in the middle of school hours coming to the realization that I forgot, and I'd have to go to my aunt's trailer and have her watch over me.

My aunt Cathy thankfully lived a short walking distance from my home, though I had a long trek to make from the park entrance to make it over to both our homes.

I'd already gotten used to getting up early for gathering my clothes, lunch and backpack before making the move outside of the mobile home park to a new home, I always had summer break to look forward to and finally be able to sleep in late and have a lot more time to spend outside (compared to the half hour recess in school) and establishing a better morning routine. I also got in the habit of taking a shower at night instead of morning, so I'd have more time for the bus.

What are your memories of preparing for the school bus in your early school days? Leave a comment and as always, see you next article!