Every morning I take my older three children to the bus stop. It's 3 houses away and I don't have to walk them but I do because I can.
I hug them and kiss them before they get on the bus and I tell them that I love them and I talk to all of the kids and I say to all of them, "HAVE A GREAT DAY!"
At the beginning of the year none of the other moms embarssed their children with kisses - but I did.
And when my oldest son tried to shirk my kisses I chased him around and everyone laughed.
But over time something has changed. Now all of the kids give their moms hugs and kisses before they get on the bus and my oldest no longer tries to run. He stops and waits for me to kiss him. (He's 10.)
Sometimes I think we forget to tell people how much we love them because we're embarassed. But a former coworker told me this story and it changed how I thought about it:
Every day my coworker (a 45 yo man) would walk his 6'3" 18 year old son to the bus. And every day the son would give his father a hug and a kiss before he got on the bus.
Finally the father said to him, "Don't your friends give you a hard time about that?"
The son looked his father in the eye and said, "No, they don't. Because they know I'd fucking kill them."
I love that story - I love that that boy was willing to use his power to make loving his dad the cool thing to do.
And I'm glad that at my bus stop hugging your parents before you get on the bus is the cool thing to do.
Hugs, worth it
Posted by: joeinvegas | May 21, 2013 at 03:32 PM
I love this!
Posted by: Aimee | May 21, 2013 at 10:31 PM
Just.plain.AWESOME.
Posted by: Amy | May 22, 2013 at 07:24 AM
my mom walked me out to the bus stop ( just past the end of our driveway) almost every single day of my school career. I love those memories.
Posted by: Shaina Haber | May 22, 2013 at 09:34 AM
This is my last year taking our youngest to her bus stop and getting those hugs and kisses and waves from the bus window - she goes to the high school next year where her dad teaches and will ride with him. I'm down to only three mornings left...it kind of makes me sad but amazed that she's ready for high school. Talk about mixed feelings.
Posted by: Sonja | May 31, 2013 at 08:29 AM