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.
- 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!
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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!