responsible

Just for the record, I have nothing against public transportation, against those who use public transportation or any other public services for that matter. Lots of them turned out to be good citizens - better than I, including Mark. Perhaps I read too much national and world news and perhaps I fall into that group of suspicious, wary individuals who are always anticipating the worst,slathering on sunscreen in January before dressing in six layers, wearing chore gloves to the grocery store so as not to pick up germs or generally mingling in public with a surgery mask to avoid the current alleged epidemic. Perhaps, except I don't do any of those things.

But perhaps I mostly feel a great burden of responsibility to keep my children safe and under our care, as their parents.

I am quite certain that it must be the strangest oddity ever to nearly every one I talk to that my five-year old doesn't get on the bus at 7 a.m. to ride to school and back on at the end of the day to come back home 9 hours later.

"Won't that break up your day to have to drive her to school and back?"
" Well maybe later on in the year, she can ride the bus."

Due to the fact that I haven't completely formulated a stellar (polite) comeback and the people who keep asking are dear people to me, I've simply nodded so far and assure them that the 2-1/2 miles to town isn't far and doesn't inconvenience me much and we know no other kids who are on the bus.

That's a relatively small thing. Until the day when something happens during that hour in the morning and hour in the afternoon. Then there's no going back for a redo. The damage has been done. It might be just a word learned that doesn't fit in our vocabulary here at home. Or it might be something bigger. Something that requires counseling. Then the 12 minutes it takes me morning and the 12 minutes in the afternoon to drive into town to pick her up isn't such a big deal.

I am firmly of the opinion that Mark and I are responsible for the minds and hearts of our children. They were not accidents that I happened after a one-night stand or as a result of a poorly thought out illicit relationship. Their birthdays are not perfectly choreographed for the proper mental fortitude of their parents but their existences are not by-products. That also means that we are responsible for where we send our kids, who influences them and anything that goes on while they not under our watch.

Nobody would take three or four or five little chicks and pitch them outside to fend for themselves. Even the most polite dog would be tempted to do wrong. What would they know about finding shelter during a storm? How would they fight off an attacker? How would they know who to follow?

So the bus really is a big deal. It's just a piece of being responsible for our kids. It's not the church's job to teach them religion. It's not the school's job to make sure they are learning right. It's not the government's job to give them everything else. It's our job. The church can help. The school can assist with the learning. The government can be used for emergencies. But if we are not active in being responsible, we are expecting to put our full weight on a one or two-legged chair.

That's my story and I'm sticking by it.