Last Go-Round for the Magic School Bus

This morning, I began the final year of driving what I’ve called the Magic School Bus. My youngest child, Nicholas, started his senior year at Rockville High School today and this school year will bring to a close to 14 years of transporting my children and their friends.                    

From Pre-K up to grade 12, I have chauffeured Nicholas and his older sister, Samantha, to and from schools in Washington, DC and Rockville, MD. For most of those years, a blue Nissan Quest mini-van served as the work horse. The Quest was put out to pasture recently with a hearty “job well done” and replaced by an SUV.

Over the years, most of the rides were less than memorable. Despite what you see on television, I didn’t get to use the time for “teachable moments” and discussions of the many dangers lurking in the real world. My kids are not morning people so they were not very talkative…especially to each other.  

Sure there was the basic checklist – “Got your lunch,” “Got your homework,” “Got your backpack” and the occasional U-turn when those questions were answered with a negative. But mostly we just bounced along with the Samantha and Nicholas engrossed in their thoughts and me worrying about how they would fare each day.

The ride home was usually a little chattier, with both kids offering small glimpses of what their day was like never too much info and only the news that they chose to report.

The last two years have been a little different. With Samantha off in college, it is down to just me and Nick. There have been some man to man chats covering everything from sports to girls to haircuts but nothing too heavy.

The rides to school always end with the same admonition from me “Learn something” and my disembarking passengers giving me a blank stare and a quick goodbye.

As this school year goes forward, I will make occasional postings to chronicle this last round-up and Nick’s progress as a high school senior.