I'm late! I'm late!

As a young child I was very shy - painfully so at times. I loved to learn though and I remember being very excited albeit very scared of starting school. Since my next older sibling was four years older, I had no sister or brother in school with me. When I started kindergarten rode the bus with them, but went to a different school.

kindergarten circa 1977

One of my biggest fears in kindergarten was missing the bus. I have no idea why as I don't recall ever being forgotten or left behind by my parents, but this was a huge fear for me. 

I still vividly recall one winter's day. In kindergarten (not sure if this is still the case - most likely it is) we brought slippers or a change of shoes to wear so that we didn't clump around in our boots all day. One afternoon I was all dressed and ready to go home and waiting in the foyer of the small town primary school. My bus was always one of the last ones to pick up students from the school and there were only a handful of us who rode it. 

That's when my teacher looked down and noticed that I still had on my big fuzzy orange slippers. Oh no! I remember being panicked that I was going to miss my bus. In hindsight (and as an adult), I realize that the teacher would have held the bus for me but at the time I was just so positive it would leave me behind and then what would I do? Spend the night at the school? Alone? In the dark?

I raced down the hallway and tore off my slippers. I hurriedly pulled on my boots and ran- clump-clump-clumping- back up the hallway. And waited another ten minutes or so before the bus finally arrived.