"Mom! Don't follow the bus, just pull over here and we'll wait. And don't look at anybody, either!" I was dropping off my son to meet a school bus that would take him to his new middle school. We'd never done this before, and he'd never ridden a bus to school. In the recent past, I had driven him right up to the front of his school and let him out - with a kiss and hug and a 'I love you, have a great day,' exchange before he got out.