Erin Gaines

Wife, mother, sister, teacher, learner

[Erin Gaines @GteachE]

People always remember how you made them feel. Be a positive light in someone’s day!❤️

[Erin Gaines @GteachE]

This story is beautiful. It melted my heart. ❤️

[Mr PitBull Stories @MrPitbull07]

He drives a school bus in Dallas, Texas. But the kids on his route call him something else — Dad.

Every morning before the sun is fully up, Curtis Jenkins pulls his yellow school bus to the curb and waits. Not just to pick up kids. To see them.

For seven years, Curtis noticed things other people missed. The little girl who folded her paper lunch bag perfectly every day but left it on the bus — because there was nothing inside. The boy whose shoes were too small. The kids who got on quiet, eyes down, carrying weight no child should have to carry alone.

So Curtis did something simple. He made his bus a community.

He gave every child a job — a greeter, an assistant, a "police officer" keeping order in the aisles. Every morning he'd call out, "We're going to care about each other and love everybody, right?" And 50 small voices would answer back.

But it didn't stop there.

Over the years, Curtis spent thousands of dollars of his own money — money he saved by skipping his own Christmas gifts with his wife — on birthday cards, bikes, backpacks, turkeys at Thanksgiving, and 70 hand-wrapped Christmas presents. He didn't buy random gifts. He asked each child what they wanted. Then he went and got exactly that.

No donation page. No announcement. No cameras.

When the story finally got out and people questioned how a bus driver could afford it, Curtis just smiled.

"It doesn't take money. It takes discipline."

But here's the part that will stay with you.

When a reporter asked the kids what they loved most about Curtis — not one of them mentioned the gifts.

A fifth grader named Ethan, whose parents had divorced when he was four, looked up and said quietly:

"He's the father that I always wanted. In some ways, I wish my dad could have been like that."

Curtis heard it. Didn't flinch. Just nodded.

"That's the paycheck right there," he said later. "If I can get that, you can keep the money."

He wasn't looking for a medal. He wasn't going viral on purpose. He was just a man who decided, every single morning, that his bus would be the safest place those kids walked into all day.

Sometimes the person who changes a child's life forever isn't a teacher or a coach or a counselor.

Sometimes it's the person behind the wheel of a yellow bus at 7 a.m. — who chose to show up, and chose to care, when nobody was asking him to.

Tag someone who needs to read this today. 💛

[Erin Gaines @GteachE]

TizzyEnt is right. 😡 It’s not fair and doesn’t make sense! Those who support this either don’t understand ALL that will be required for so many people to be eligible to vote, OR they honestly just don’t want you to vote.

[TizzyEnt @TizzyEnt]

You'll need a passport or birth certificate to vote, but not to be drafted in a war

[The Best @TheBestqueenx]

A teacher told the shyest student in the class that if he pulled out a blank sheet of paper, he would give everyone a perfect score on the exam.

What the students didn't know was that both sheets of paper were blank. The teacher wanted to include him, and he succeeded.

[Erin Gaines @GteachE]

Unbelievable! We need to fix this ASAP! 🤦‍♀️

[Jean Jacques Dessalines 🇭🇹🇵🇸🇳🇪🇲🇱🇧🇫🇨🇺 @JeanJacquesDes7]

Journalist Garrett Graff just compiled everything he’s learned about corruption and abuse by officers at CBP and…wow. It’s not enough to abolish ICE, y’all. CBP is rotten to its very core.

vermontgmg
Jesscraven101

[Erin Gaines @GteachE]

@Nativetoday_ Hello

[Erin Gaines @GteachE]

@RX_forLiberty Labs

[Leaders 𝕏 Junction @LeadersJunction]

If you're in your 40's, here are uncomfortable truths you may want to hear‼️‼️

[Àgbà John Doe @jon_d_doe]

As a parent, I think this video has taught me something useful.

I recommend that you should try it on your kids, too.

I have also shared it with my wife.

Credit: joe_drummer_boy on IG.

[PoliticsGirl @IAmPoliticsGirl]

Should we ALL be Trad Wives?

[Erin Gaines @GteachE]

@XPHOENIXDRAGON List

[Erin Gaines @GteachE]

@PuppiesIover Almond

[Joe Sanfelippo @Joe_Sanfelippo]

NEW WALK! Being the BUSIEST doesn’t make you the BEST. The need to fill every open spot in your calendar will catch up with you…promise. When it does, you’ll miss things you were hired to do. Fill your time with MORE PEOPLE and LESS STUFF.
#LeadFromWhereYouAre #1minwalk2work

[Erin Gaines @GteachE]

The whole world needs to see this lesson. The world could be a happier place.

[Iris Seraphina  @iris_seraphina]

What a great lesson!! Many of us should take notes!! 📝 #kindness #wholesome #teacher #BackToSchool

[Joe Sanfelippo @Joe_Sanfelippo]

The most important thing to get ready in your room…IS YOU! Kids are going to walk in and see their name and know if they are supposed to be in that room. Then they’ll look at you…and know if THEY BELONG. Just got to take care of each other. #LeadFromWhereYouAre #1minwalk2work

[Interesting things @awkwardgoogle]

Ozzy Osbourne's Crazy Train on a xylophone is proof why every school needs a fully funded music program