[ContraryMary]

On my daughter's first day of kindergarten my husband, who had taken the day off, went to the bus stop after school to wait for her. Well, the bus showed up but she wasn't on it. He called the school who got in touch with the district transportation department. They radioed the other buses and found her -- she had gotten on the wrong bus. At the end of the bus's normal route they drove her home.

Stuff happens. The most important thing is to not panic. It's the parents' reactions in most of these kinds of situations that does the most harm to the child. In this story the kid was probably not traumatized until his mother went off the deep end. Even at the age of five, there are lessons to be learned about dealing with life's missteps.

[Okies love Dubya 2]

'Stuff happens. The most important thing is to not panic. It's the parents' reactions in most of these kinds of situations that does the most harm to the child. In this story the kid was probably not traumatized until his mother went off the deep end. Even at the age of five, there are lessons to be learned about dealing with life's missteps.'

Thank you for your sanity. The kids feed off the parents' (which I have learned the hard way myself) reactions to situations.

[Tax-chick]

Stuff happens. The most important thing is to not panic.

I agree. For all the discussion of what *might* happen to a child walking through a city (traffic is my main concern for my own children), the fact is that the boy arrived at his destination safely.

A mistake was made (by someone). Everybody should calm down, and work toward avoiding similar mistakes in the future. There are always going to be errors in any institutional system, even if everyone is doing his best all the time. It's part of life, and meltdowns and lawsuits aren't going to change it.

[bd476]

Mary, your daughter taking the wrong bus does not equal the potential danger of a child unexpectedly walking unattended on city streets. Your daughter was enclosed in a bus, not exposed to street dangers.

ContraryMary said: "...In this story the kid was probably not traumatized until his mother went off the deep end. Even at the age of five, there are lessons to be learned about dealing with life's missteps..."

The Mother's concern and reaction was appropriate to the situation, to the times we live in and was a demonstration of correct parental responsibility.

A critical life lesson is accepting the responsibility for and facing the consequences of life's missteps. Some consequences are more hazardous than others.

This "misstep" by the school was a big one. The Mother is correct in making certain the school accepts the consequences and responsibility for what might have been a very tragic "misstep."