Where did she come from?

OK. So tonight at the dinner table Nola comes out and says "Can I talk to you about some bus problems, Mom?" She proceeds to tell me that the "mean boys" on the bus have once again called her a name. This time it's "potato head".

Now, being the wonderful mom that I am, I talk with her about her feelings, possible solutions, and what actions to take next. When I asked her what she did about the name-calling, she said "I turned to my friend and enjoyed the ride". Seriously. She actually said that.

She seemed to like the extreme idea of not taking the bus home to avoid the "mean boys", but after thinking about this one for a while she came up with the following:

Nola: "Mom, I think that not riding the bus on Mondays would be ok. I think that I can do 4 days on the bus."

Me: "What do you mean 'on Mondays"?"

Nola: "Well, on Tuesdays I usually ride with xxxxx, on Wednesdays I ride with yyyyyyy, on Thursdays I sit next to zzzz and aaaaa, and Fridays is ALWAYS bbbbb and cccc, since they only ride the bus home on Fridays."

Me: "Huh? You mean that you ride with these kids on the same days each week?"

Nola: "Yes."

What's going on here? Doesn't she know that she's FIVE??? And who has a schedule of friends to ride with on the bus anyway? The best part of this whole thing was that NONE of the kids she named in her bus riding schedule are actually kindergartners! I am constantly amazed at this child's ability to make friends and build social networks anywhere she goes.

Later on this evening, she asked "Mom, can I talk to you about some of my other life problems?"
LIFE PROBLEMS? From a five year old?!? Turns out that she had a bit of a scare from some dogs on leashes while she was walking home from the bus stop. Nothing major, since she once again refused my offer to come and pick her up at the bus stop after school. (She prefers to walk home by herself.)

She's an amazing kid, that Nola....