Anyone else hate the school run?

adamantine

i dont speak to any of the mothers at my sons school coz they are so cliquey and i dont know them from years ago or wherever so they dont even look at me. suits me fine because i prefer not to bother with all that chat.

me and DS2 play in the playground while we wait for the bell for DS1 and they all stand around chatting and ignoring their other kids who disappear round the corner to the older classes playgrounds or fall over or fight or just sit in their buggy munching chocolate and crisps.

today DS2 and i were off to the moon with mickey mouse and goofy in the rocket ship that was painted on the ground and we named and counted to ten the pictures on the walls. i certainly think i had the better time!

meritaten

I thought I was finished with the school run when my kids left school! now I take GS2 to school or pick him up 2-3 days a week and pick up my GDs (3 of them) one day a week. I dont have a car so walk and as both schools take about twenty minutes to walk to - and at LEAST 35 minutes to walk back with the kids - I am cream-crackered after! besides which, I have a back problem so have to take painkillers before leaving the house.
The two schools are so different! GSs school allows the parents to wait outside the reception/nursery door and NO parent is allowed to take thier child until the teacher opens the door unless by prior arrangement. the mums are not particularly friendly, in over a year not ONE of them has spoken to me, although I smile at familiar faces they just seem to look through me.
GDs school is the one my kids went to. and its still exactly the same as it used to be - little gaggles of mums all chatting, and the PTA parents STILL swan up to the door and step in and take thier little darlings! they usually like to engage the teacher in a little chat, pointedly calling them by their first name and delaying the other kids from coming out!
in the last four years its only the other 'nans' who have ever spoken to me. must be because I am older I dont register on the mums radar! They usually look gobsmacked when the headmaster makes a beeline for me - calling me by my first name and asking how my kids are doing! quite amusing really! The present head taught ALL three of my kids, so knows me quite well.

(edit - I quite forgot to say - I HATE the school run!)

onlyroz

I fortunately don't have to do the afternoon pick-up any more (my childminder and husband share that duty), but I do the morning drop-off, where it's not necessary to stop and chat. Even when I did the afternoon pick-up I found it extremely uncomfortable and never got very far with making small-talk. Most of the mums were wearing slobby joggers, but they all had perfect hair and make-up, and the conversation topics were usually utterly mundane. I'm not sorry that I haven't made friends with any/many of the other mums. I'm friendly enough to say hello to the few that walk the same route as me, but I don't feel any need to become best buddies with any of them.

Cherry_Bomb

I'm not 'in' with the school mums so that must be I've done something wrong like come across unfriendly???

adamantine

Cherry_Bomb wrote: »

I'm not 'in' with the school mums so that must be I've done something wrong like come across unfriendly???

us nasty people :rotfl:

claire16c

Person_one wrote: »

Is this a recent thing or a class thing?

When I was at primary school the mums all showed up in whatever they'd been wearing all day, from bleach stained jogging bottoms to work uniforms to smart suits.

They always brought the dogs and the pre-school age kids too and I remember it being a lovely welcoming committee, not a desperate housewives style b1tch-fest! :eek:

This was only 20 odd years ago...

The local schools near me are like this. some mums go for a run after so are in their joggers or lycra leggings, others are in work suits, others in jeans. Yes there are a few 4x4s, so what, there are also a few bangers. No one cares. The mums all seem really friendly. I do the school run as a job at the moment as a nanny, and the mums are really chatty and nice as far as I can see.

As for the make up thing - I dont leave the house without make up on and that includes doing my job even if I wasnt leaving the kids house. Im not done up to the nines but it only takes about 15 mins in the morning to do it and put my hair up or straighten it, its not that hard to fit in.

its also pretty useful to be friends with a couple of mums as Ive already needed one to pick up one of the kids for me when the other one was doing a school activity at a very annoying time 3 miles away. If i hadnt known them, either he would have had to miss the activity or their mum would have had to take an entire day off work.

Person_one

15 minutes putting make up on every morning?

That's 91 hours a year you could have stayed in bed!

Caroline73_2

Cherry_Bomb wrote: »

I'm not 'in' with the school mums so that must be I've done something wrong like come across unfriendly???

Well when one of the mums came across and made the effort to speak to you today, you then came onto a public forum and spared her for doing it so that's probably why you'd be classed as unfriendly.

Cherry_Bomb

Caroline73 wrote: »

Well when inequality of the mums came across and made the effort to speak to you today you then came onto a public forum and spared her for doing it so that's probably edgy you'd be classed as unfriendly.

I thought it was pretty obvious she wasn't 'making an effort' It was a dig
Maybe I didn't word it properly?

Plans_all_plans

I think it depends on your overall view of socialising, if that makes sense. If I'd been invited for coffee in the past I'd have gone along (unless I had a prior engagement). What'd be the harm in it? You never know you could've met a great new friend there!

If there are other mums in the playground, I go and chat to them whether I knew them previously or not. Some are receptive and make the effort back, others aren't. If I try to speak to people more than once and they give one word answers or don't attempt to make conversation back then I'll think they're not interested and just say hi to them in future.