Pookie had trouble on the bus again last week.  On Day 2 of using his homemade seat belt cover, he thwarted it.  He stood up, moved around the bus and eventually made his way to the emergency door where he tried to do the bus driver a favor and “lock” what appeared to be an “unlocked” slidebolt.  Problem is, that slidebolt lock is something they do at night for lockdown of the bus.  If you “lock” it while the bus is “on” the alarms go off.  So…that is what happened.

This was Friday onthe way to school.  They let him come home on the bus and he behaved himself perfectly.  But they said the harness was coming out on Monday.  I called and pled our case again.  He needs to be taught how to behave on the bus.  Let me teach him.  They said they would work with us. 

I asked to ride on the bus for a week.  They said no.

I asked for a bus aide.  They said no.

I asked for him to be switched to another bus where some other kid already has a bus aide.  They said no.

They did agree to give him a bus aide for 2 days, let me tape signs to his seat reminding him to sit, and tape a “STOP” sign on the emergency door to remind him not to touch it.

BAGD and I also did more research on a seat belt cover.  The technology exists.  You can easily buy one for your car at Amazon.  The problem is that the bus seat belts are the old fashioned kind, with the button in the center of the buckle, not on the side.  Think 1980’s Chevy Truck. 

We finally found one at Perfectly Safe.com  that will fit the old fashioned seat belts, namely bus seats.  It was cheap, $5.95, but to overnight two of them here put the bill at $57.  If Pookie ever wins a coloring contest at the mall and the prize is $10…its mine.  I also intend to make him share the Culver’s Gift Cards that Great Grandpa gives him every year with me until his debt is paid. 

He rode the bus Monday and Tuesday this week so far, and it has been fine.  I think that the reminder signs taped to the seat will be the best solution.  He knows how to behave, he does.  He just needs reminders and an understanding of why and what the consequences are. 

Now, everyday we talk about the bus rules before he gets on the bus.  I tape the sign to the seat and we ask him about it every day when he gets home.  We hope it continues to work.  We are not sure if the Transportation department will let us use the new $56 seat belt buckle covers.  Even if they do, he can loosen the slack on the belt and still wiggle out.  We are putting more faith in the reminder signs, but the bus people want some sort of restraint, so we are working with them on that, to make sure its a restraint (buckel cover) that we can agree to.  If not…I will be driving him to school every day.  We do not want him in that harness. 

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because it took me and BAGD soooooooo long to find a seat belt buckle cover for Pookie’s bus seat, and others parents might have the same problem, pardon me while I try to save their sanity and time by directing a little bit of search traffic here.  Trust me, there is very little chance they will find the product any other way.  Perfectly Safe is a good website, but they did not come up on the first gazillion searches I did.

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