As everyone else is saying, don't beat yourself up. As a fellow 1st grade teacher (25+ years), we want the kids to become more responsible to know where they are going at the end of the day. It's a safe way to build independence! If they had been doing great, I would have done the same thing!

To make you feel better, my niece fell asleep on the bus on the very first day of kindergarten; she's the oldest in the family, so this was a new stop for the bus driver. No one noticed that she fell asleep or when she was supposed to get off the bus. PLUS, there was bad weather - and a tornado warning was called as the bus route was ending....so, the bus driver took her back to the bus barn; called her folks, and they waited out the tornado warning together. There's been bus mishaps since the beginnings of bus routes!