The Trouble with the Bus

Today marks week two of riding the bus to kindergarten for Laurence. After a rough first two days, things were much improved and he was boarding before and after school without hesitation. Today brought a new issue, however. He bounded down the bus stairs this afternoon with this issue to report, "There are two girls who want to be my girlfriend, but their perfume smells awful." It didn't hit me at first that he was talking about girls on the bus, so I said, "Oh, two girls in your class?" "No, Mommy, on the bus!" Oh boy. This means it could be difficult to avoid the stench, which by the way, is NOT flowery, according to Laurence, because it doesn't make him want to sneeze. Flowery perfume was my first thought, of course. Anyway, he continued with, "I just don't know WHY they want to sit on my seat, with all the other seats on the bus. And their perfume is just awful. I need to be gross, so they don't like me." Oh, the trials and tribulations of a 5-year-old. The conversation went on and we came up with a plan -- tomorrow he is going to sit in a different seat to try and avoid any nasal unpleasantries. In the meantime I also discovered that this is a problem only in the mornings, as these girls are in 4-year-old kindergarten and have only half days. Is it me, or does it seem disturbing that 4-year-olds are coming to school wearing perfume?