Consistently, every morning I drop my daughter off at the child care. Invariably I encounter the following situations:
[ul]
[li]Mom asking preschool to walk up the stairs, who adamantly refuses (thereby blocking stairs)[/li][li]Parents congregating in the doorway and chatting about playdates, etc. (thereby blocking the entry/exit)[/li][li]Mom or dad letting kid run or zigzag through the hallway (thereby making it harder for me and the kid to walk to our class)[/li][/ul]
Certainly this isn’t a terrible thing. But I always either need to get to the office (so need a few minutes to say 'bye and chat with friendly teacher), or get on the highway to avoid hellacious traffic. I figure if we get out promptly, that’s more time for us at home to hang out and have fun. Hell, I even help my daughter “fly” through the halls, but only if the hall is empty and we’re not blocking anyone. And it’s not like the worst offenders are mostly toddlers or new walkers.
I sense I’m moving faster than a lot of these folks… and that I wouldn’t necessarily pick morning dropoff to teach my kid how to climb stairs.
This is MPSIMS, and I’m not looking to have these people deported… but I do wonder how they can be so oblivious at time.
Soccer moms have a lot of free time to kill. It makes it harder for people on tight schedules.
How old does a kid have to be before you can drop him off at the parking lot? That saves a lot of time.
I know by the 2nd or third grade that I dropped my daughters off. The door was only 30 ft away and I could see them walk into the school. That was 15 years ago. Things have changed.
Aye, times have changed. I lived 2½ blocks from my elementary school, and I can’t remember being driven and dropped off (inclement weather excepted). Actually, I can’t remember anything specific about kindergarten, but I’m sure I walked ever after that.
That was then (ETA: Okay, that was 55+ years ago). Today, the old hood is different. You wouldn’t dare set foot outside your door without your Uzi today.
I used to work in an after-school program for Kindergartners, some parents were in a rush and I made sure the kids had everything packed etc and they were ready to go once there parent arrived. What pissed me off the most when parent took their time gossiping with other parents when I would be waiting for them and their kid upset over the fact “mommy didn’t show up yet”.
It’s not about “leaving earlier.” It shouldn’t take more than 5-7 minutes to drop a kid off in the morning. I’m saying, if you and your kid are having a showdown about walking up the stairs… pull him/her up the stairs so we don’t have to wait for you to resolve it.
I run into parents I know too. I’m mindful of the pathways and entrances and move to the side to chat. What I don’t get is Soccer Mom enthusiastically chatting about summer plans with Yoga Mom right in the doorway… I mean, actually in front of the controlled access door which obscures the view of the desk staff for parents coming in…
claramorena, you get it. Our teacher and teacher aide are terrific about having the kids ready at dismissal and I really appreciate that.
I think my kid is too young to be dropped off at the door. I actually don’t think it’s possible because of the controlled access door. I rather enjoy drop off, to be honest. Just wish it was a little less of an obstacle course!
To the OP, I hate to say it but it comes with having kids. Dealing with other parents will be part of your new life. It will never go perfectly.
I’ve been thru the preschool, daycare, elementary school thing now and I can tell you if you just learn to expect it, deal with it, and let it go your life will go alot easier.
Now after saying that there will be times you will need to step up and talk to administrators. For example their were 1-2 parents at my sons elem school who insisted on bring their dogs with them to pick up the kids and they would have these long leashes and let their dogs be out on the sidewalk with all the people walking by. “Hey dummy, not everyone wants to pet your stupid dog and theirs a SIGN that says “No Dogs”.” It took an administrator to tell the person to stop.
My daughter’s preschool doesn’t unlock the doors until 9am on the dot. Other parents/carers get there early and stand outside chatting while the kids run riot until the doors open.
I’m not a morning person - I deliberately make sure I’m running late enough that when I walk in the foyer at 9.04 or so, the inner door is already unlocked so I can just take her straight in, rather than be forced to socialise before coffee
Ok, I’d like to ask, why dont you want to get to know the parents of the kids your kid is around all day?
I mean I hear what your saying and I know your wanting to be on schedule and all but you have kids and like it or not, other parents are part of your new world.
Huh. I hear you - but I think part of it is probably that I’ve already done it so many times. I got to know the mums at baby massage, then bookbugs, then toddlers, then Strollers, and the Parent Cafe, plus various other kiddie groups I’ve done since becoming a full-time mum. Maybe I’m just new-peopled out?
Plus most of the kids will be going to different primary schools from my daughter (overlapping catchment areas) so as bad as it sounds, I just can’t be bothered, when I’ll have to do it again with a new crowd at the schoolgates next year.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve made a few pals, but I don’t want to be best buddies with everyone at the 8.50am crowd!
TL;DR yeah, I can be a bit stand-offish and want to keep myself to myself. Especially before I’ve had my coffee
Who, Hippy? But the daycare opens when it opens, and lets you pick the kids up when it lets you.
Back when the Kidlets went to kindergarten, there was a clear divide between people who had places to go and those who did not. The first ones tried to be in-and-out, the second group too often seemed to think that was the best time to try and set up a playdate. Pick up time, it often was; drop off, definitely not.
Gah- wait until elementary school when the anxious and apparently-have-nothing-else-to-do moms show up 30 minutes early to be first in the car line and just park there waiting for their kid, who is invariably in the last class to be excused every day.
I walked or had my children meet me in the park next door just to avoid burning gas for 30 minutes or an hour in the hot Texas sun while those ladies junked up the car line every day for 9 months. I guarantee it would not harm your child if they had to sit or stand for a couple of minutes while the car line moved along.
My younger son’s day care in the same building as the government agency my wife works for. You have to have proper id to drive in the lot and you need an access card to get in the building, and get past the assistant manager who is sitting in the lobby. Mercifully, people don’t tend to dawdle, as everyone has somewhere that they need to be.
I bet as an “in and out” parent you miss out on alot of great gossip!
Its interesting how careful everyone is when they are dropping off but when thats done and they are leaving, its like a race to get out of the parking lot.
At my kids first elementary school what they did would be to shoo any “early arrivers” out of the pickup lane so one had to do this drive around and around until your kid showed up.
At the 2nd, you had a number on the windshield of your car and as you drove up, they would call your kids number and only then would they send your kid to the pickup point.
At both schools the first 2 weeks were a headache but after awhile everyone got into the groove and it went fairly easy.
Now some schools though the parking is so limited and they have all these buses so the dropoff/pickup situation is a big headache. At one school, they will ticket you if the line backs up onto the street so parents have to drive up and down the street sometimes making u-turns and going into driveways to keep circling.
I’m an in-and-out aunt. Back when they were in kindergarten, that made a great excuse to avoid talking to people who I had no interest in talking to (translate: locals who I had not previously met); now that the Kidlets attend the same school we did, their classmates are the children of our former classmates, so I know a lot of the parents already and know that they won’t subject me to The You’re Not From Here Conversation.
“When did you move to town? I don’t remember meeting you before.”
“I grew up here, actually, although I’m from The Capital. But after I left for college, I’ve only lived here the couple years I was helping care for Dad. I live in Othertown.”
“Oh, so I should know your family! Who was your father?”
[Half an hour of references]
“But then you’re not from here! You’re from The Capital! And you don’t live here, you live in Othertown!”
No shit, lady. I swear people from that town are proof that ciborgs can be fully biological. I have hm… about a dozen reasons to drop by the town where I grew up, and which never felt like “my hometown”: the Kidlets, my brothers, SiL, Mom, great food and assorted friends who come up to counting as “short of half a dozen” because surprise surprise, the immense majority of the people my age that I liked also got the heck out of Tucson as fast as they could.
