Free Piggies

Toddler sandals are extremely aerodynamic and fly pleasingly when tossed from a school bus window traveling at 45 mph. Or so I have been told through a series of nods, gestures, and excited squeals by one of the little ones at school this week. The bus driver filled in the gaps as best she could and amongst us all we created an interesting picture. Little boy is picked up first on that bus route and has a decent bus ride to school, so he was nestled all snug in his seat when visions of flying sandals danced in his head. Visions soon blossomed into a full-fledged plan and the bustle of traffic lured him into action. He quickly escaped from his sandals, a skill he has possessed since last school year when I cursed those shoes under my breath and imagined every scenario of destruction but this one. Then with a sudden burst of dexterity he tossed them out the window behind him and set them free to find their own way in the world. He watched them soar and then contentedly wiggled his free piggies, no longer stuck inside of any form of shoe. Some time after their liberation the bus attendant realized that little boy's toes were not in shoes and asked him where he had put his sandals. With great pride he pointed out the window and began to laugh. Thus he arrived at school barefoot and quite proud of himself. We did not know whether to laugh or to scold him and secretly we were celebrating the demise of those wretched sandals. I can only imagine what the driver of the car behind the bus saw because little boy is so small you can not see him in the seat - all they would have seen is an "empty" bus driving down the road and then suddenly two tiny shoes flying out the window. The story they were able to tell that evening at dinner must have been unbelievable!! Poor little boy thought he was going to be able to be barefoot all day at school - surprise! I have quite the stockpile of spare clothing this year and it includes shoes. His free piggies were very quickly strapped back inside of a pair of shoes. However, I made sure that the shoes were taken back one he got on the bus to go home just in case the sound of traffic seduced him again on the way home and he just had to set his piggies free!