When half-asleep, bleary-eyed children stumble onto the school bus in the morning, chances are the driver of the bus has already been up for hours. Treat your child's bus driver to a hot breakfast (to go) one morning by preparing a meal such as a breakfast wrap containing eggs, sausage and some vegetables wrapped in a whole-grain pita. Or, for an equally appreciated treat, have a box of mini-donut rolls and a hot, fresh coffee waiting for the driver when he rolls up to your child's bus stop.
Everyone loves greetings and well wishes in any form, and bus drivers are certainly no different. While the idea of every child presenting their bus driver with a store-bought or homemade thank you card is definitely appealing, consider getting your child and his bus mates together on a weekend afternoon to craft a giant homemade thank you card from the entire bus. The emotional impact of seeing something larger than life that children have spent a considerable amount of time on is quite striking and would certainly let your child's bus driver know she is appreciated.
Bus decorating will require some careful planning that may require you to enlist the help of teachers or administration at the school you bus driver operates out of. Due to the fact that buses usually spend the night parked in a private lot, a student's only access to a school bus may be while it is parked outside the school during school hours. Arrange to bring decorations (streamers, balloons, cut-outs) to your child's school and have each class decorate a different school bus as a surprise for the bus driver at the end of the day. Make sure the decorations are easily removable as some cities may have laws regarding driving with things attached to a vehicle.
While it may not be appropriate to purchase a large, expensive or personal gift for the bus driver in your life, small tokens of appreciation are definitely acceptable, especially if they have anything to do with the profession of bus driving. Consider purchasing a refillable coffee cup with a lid and present it to your bus driver filled with a hot cup of coffee one morning. Alternatively, you may consider buying a decorative package of car air fresheners or anything else that your bus driver would find useful and appreciate during work hours.