Marcus & Bus Driver Drama

The bad news - Marcus was stalked by his bus driver. The good news - he's become an instant celebrity at the high school!

I'm not sure how it all started, but I definitely know how it ended. On Wednesday I received a phone call from Marcus' principal informing me that he was now aware of the actions committed by the bus driver toward Marcus and that he would personally be driving Marcus home after school. Pause here to giggle at the thought of ANY high schooler being driven home by the principal for ANY reason.

A few days ago Marcus mentioned that his bus driver seemed to have taken a special interest in him. She was sharing stories from her "glory days" as she called them...even mentioning her nickname from college (Foxy!). She brought a photo from the glory days to show him, as she'd gained quite a bit of weight since then. I thought it was a bit odd, but combine the fact that I under-react with my warped sense of humor - I let it go. A few days later, Marcus reported that she wrote down her email address and Facebook name (while driving the bus with her knee and writing on a post-it!). This was a bit more concerning, but I understand that Facebook is "the" method of communication these days. It just seemed odd that "Foxy" would want to communicate with a high school Freshman outside of the bus route period. So my weird-o-meter kicked in a little bit, but Marcus wasn't concerned at all. That is...until "Foxy" sent him Mardi Gras beads on Facebook and requested that he throw some back at her! This was the same day that she changed up the bus route a bit, so that Marcus was the last one off the bus. There was also some confusion regarding whether or not she sent him a Playboy bunny icon gift online. We're 50/50 on that one, but that little nugget does come into play later in the story.

The day after the bus route change and Facebook incident, Marcus was retelling the events to some wide-eyed friends at school. A teacher overheard and forced Marcus to report the incidents to the administration. That's when I received my phone call and the principal drove Marcus home. My favorite part here is that the principal was having Marcus show him the original bus route and the route "Foxy" switched to. As they were driving along, they spotted her dropping off kids and both ducked for cover in the principal's truck! Can't you just see it!

So - like a rumor in the...well...halls of a high school, word got out that Marcus had been seduced by his bus driver. Instant fame. People were gathering around him in the halls and begging for the scoop. And remember the confusion over the Playboy bunny icon? Somehow word got out that the bus driver had actually sent Marcus photos of HERSELF in the magazine! Oddly - I think "Foxy" would be pleased. In reality - that's not even CLOSE to what happened, but the story was even better that way, and Marcus didn't mind the added attention.

"Foxy" has a new bus route after a short internal investigation. Marcus said that his new bus driver resembles a drill sergeant, and she informed him that it was unfortunate that he was sexually harassed. After all - sexual harassment is illegal. Uncomfortable first conversation, don't you think! In the end, Marcus is a rock star, I'm amused, Blake is proud and Marcus' mother is traumatized. And my blog is definitely not boring today!

The People Pleasing Mother

I'm admittedly a bit of a people pleaser. I think that most of us are - to some extent - except for my husband. He's the polar opposite. He enjoys upsetting people and creating enemies. Isn't that a great trait for someone who's job involves dealing with hundreds of difficult customers each week?

Anyway - for some reason someone in Mason's preschool class isn't particularly fond of me. I really don't know why - she just doesn't reach out to me like she does most of the other moms. She laughs and jokes with them, but barely nods my way. My friend, Jana, says that 10% of people REALLY like you, 10% REALLY DON'T like you and the other 80% are ambivalent. Well...I strive to be an overachiever, so I'm determined to move this person into my top 10%...or AT LEAST a little higher in the ambivalent group.

One of my ongoing plans involves working very hard at making really cool projects for the class. For instance - on Kansas Day I got up at the crack of dawn and made a sunflower cake for the class. Here's a pic:
My next plan involves forgoing the standard paper Valentines and helping Mason make these incredible, over the top Valentines. Aren't they the cutest thing? "I Dig You" written on plastic shovels with bags of chocolate tied on.What child won't be completely thrilled to receive such a treasure? This will surely prove to this person that I'm a mom who goes the extra mile. You know - it just dawned on me that maybe she's irritated with my continued elaborate showings. Maybe she thinks I'm showing off. Oh dear - time for plan B. Anyone? Help!