Missed the bus

Shane missed the bus 2 days ago, and this was a big wake-up call for him. He has never been much of a morning person, and getting him moving onto next tasks has always been a challenge. The bus itself was late, but Shane was even later. The driver waited for 2 minutes, then left, just as Shane was running out the door.

Oddly, I did not get blamed. He simply looked at me with wide eyes and asked what do we do now? I drove him to school, and he arrived in time. But it threw off his whole day, because this is not the normal routine. He's much better at dealing with it when things go off the plan, so there was not meltdown, but it's enough to put him in a bad mood.

So, whenever something goes wrong, we wait until we're calmer (in this case, it was in the car on the way to school), and we devise a plan to ensure this doesn't happen again. Shane got a new watch for his birthday, and he loves to tell me the time. It has an alarm on it, so we decided to set the alarm at the time he is supposed to be brushing his teeth in the morning. I had to help him with counting the minutes backwards - this is a planning technique he has yet to master - but it was a useful exercise. We decided he should be outside waiting for the bus 5 minutes before the time, 1 minute to put on his shoes, and 2 minutes to brush his teeth. The bus is scheduled to come at 7:38, so we set the alarm for 7:30, and he now knows he has to start brushing his teeth when the alarm goes off. Since this new regime, Shane is following it to the second, and is learning to prepare himself for when the alarm goes off at 7:30. Before, I was continually reminding him of what he should be doing. Now, he is in control with his watch, and he's looking out for the time, and is organizing himself.

Detailing out the schedule, and putting Shane in control with his watch are the keys to success with the bus!