worst.bus.ride.ever.

i've been on some pretty awful bus rides in my 27 years. but today took the cake. and involved tears.

we're about 20 minutes into our 45 minute bus ride back to school after our field trip. my student, T, asks if she can go to the bathroom as soon as we get back to school. of course i say she can.

5 minutes later she asks how close we are and says she has to go really bad. i tell her i'm sorry but we're in the middle of a neighborhood on unknown back roads & she doesn't have a choice but to hold it.

3 minutes later she's sobbing. tears are running down her face. it's pouring outside, we're on a bus with 40 kids, and i can hear her cries from three rows back. my heart is breaking and my mind is racing. peeing her pants would be the worst experience of her 9 year old life. but what else can we do? there's nowhere to stop. oh, there was a port-a-potty. oh, too late. gosh, what if she pees her pants? she's CRYING! that's pretty serious. what the heck can i do? is she still crying? yup, there are her sobs. what will the bus driver do if she pees her pants all over the seat? should i ask to stop? shouldn't fourth graders be able to hold it? oh gosh she's still balling. okay, i have to do something.

as soon as i told the bus driver that this was a real-life-about-to-be-wet-seats-situation, she said she would stop at the dunkin donuts up ahead. praise the Lord. T and i walked to the front of the bus and ran inside the second the bus door opened. she made it in to the bathroom on time but as i waited i noticed a sign on the door that said, "sink out of order. no water." gross, i thought. but not as gross as cleaning up pee off a bus seat. oh well. then the door opens.

"mrs. alberts... my nose is bleeding."

i open the door to see blood ALL over the floor, all over my student.

no toilet paper. no paper towels. no water in the faucets. i run out of the bathroom, grab napkins from the counter, hand her some and proceed to clean the numerous red puddles off the floor. pretty tough job with no water.

many napkins later, the floor has a few already-dried drops of blood left, but i know i can't get it off so we head back out to the bus. her bleeding stops. we finish the school day. i call her mom to explain the situation. i stop at the dunkin donuts to thank the incredibly kind staff & to offer to clean up the mess i'm sure is still in their water-less bathroom. they refuse my help and repeatedly say it's no problem. i smile with tears of exhaustion and gratitude in my eyes.

i get back in my car and cry.