Sunday, November 8, 2015

5 Most Annoying Mom's In The School Drop Off Line

The dreaded school drop off  line. It’s an evil necessity for many families who don’t have bus transportation, and a luxury for those who just don’t want their children exposed to the mayhem of a daily bus ride.

I am very fortunate that on rainy days or early days I have been able to drive my kids to school. Now that Kid 3 is driving, he chauffeurs Kids 4 and 5 to the middle school and high school.

That just leaves Kid 6, the last one in her last year of elementary school.

I know by Kid 6 I'm a bit jaded and over the whole "oh my baby is getting so big" thing. But, wow, it's just a school drop off line. It really shouldn't be that big an ordeal.

If you’ve spent more than five minutes dropping off or picking up your kids from school you know there are a set of very strict rules that must be followed. The rules are necessary and set for the safety of all the children.

You pull in to the designated unloading zone, say goodbye, pull out and drive away. That’s all there is to it. Keep it moving people!

The school drop off line isn’t rocket science. Yet there’s always that one mom who insists on f’ing up the whole system.

  1. The mom who makes sure everyone knows she has a very important professional job that she must get to immediately so it’s necessary for her to cut in front of the line every single day. Because surely she is already far too over scheduled to leave her house a few minutes earlier. And us stay at home moms have nowhere else to be right? Bonus points when she sneaks into the bus only lane!
  2. The mom who reinforces to her little darlings that they are special and precious and should never have a drop of rain or bad weather touch their fair skin. Therefore she must wait until she is at the very front of the drop off line to open her doors and quickly whisk them into the school doors just a few yards away. It’s OK, the rest of us who dropped off our kids within the designated zone will wait on her and her weather apprehensive children. I’m sure giving her kids an umbrella would be an undue burden upon them at such a young age. 
  3. The mom who designates herself Safety Mom. She is very vocal in reminding other parents of the rules, which are already well posted. She always has pen and paper handy to write down the license number of cars not following the rules. I've even seen Safety Mom go so far as to post pictures of the offending car to Facebook.  I guess she thinks public shaming is an appropriate deterrent. 
  4. The mom who holds up the line because she's decided now is an appropriate time to have a conference with her child’s teacher or needs to discuss an issue with the principal who is outside greeting the kids. Her child’s AR level is obviously more important than anywhere the rest of the cars behind her need to go.
  5. The mom who expects her elementary-school child to be able to carry a heavy load by himself.  If your child is loaded down with a backpack, lunch box, cage holding the class pet and a Styrofoam replica of the solar system, then now would be a good time to park your car – in a designated parking spot- and walk your child into the school. 
My kids school is really good and the teachers that monitor the drop off line do a great job of keeping the kids safe and the cars moving. But, really, at one time or another I've seen it all.

The afternoon pick up line amazes me as well. There are some cars lining up as early as 1pm! Our school doesn't let out until 2:30pm. What are they doing sitting in their car in line for so long?

Oh well. To each their own. And my own can get on the bus!


5 comments:

  1. Funny, I haven't seen any of them. The person I can't stand is the long good bye mom who has to open the door, get out, help their kid put their back pack on, and give them all hugs and kisses. Nope, my kid when we pull in I tell her to unbuckle and put her back pack on. By the time we get to the drop off zone I have already hit the unlock button and rolled down my window. She can open the door by herself (we practiced before school started) she gets out closes the door and I holler "have a great day sweetie!" and move on.

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  2. Oh, I don't look forward to this. It's annoying enough driving PAST the pick up line (after waiting in the backup, of course)... Two more years until kindergarten here.. I'll try to remember your post so I won't be one of those annoying moms. :)

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  3. Safety Mom (snicker): When my daughter was in elementary school, we had a couple of Safety Moms who ruled the school. They complained constantly about EVERYTHING. When I dropped off my kids, they had their stuff, they got out of the car, and I yelled "goodbye I love you" to their backs. When it was time to pick up in the afternoon, I parked in the lot and went a little bit inside the front doors to wait for kidlets, careful to avoid any Safety Mom on duty. I'm so glad my children are adults. Now, if someone would give me a grandchild, my life would be perfect (except when one of the dogs has diarrhea and the dishwasher breaks and the furnace leaks, not that I'm complaining).

    Love,
    Janie

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  4. One of my classmates is a city councilman of our hometown. He's my friend on Facebook and #2 is a HUGE issue for him. I don't think his message is getting through, though--mostly because the parents he's angry at aren't reading his Facebook posts!

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