VENT: School run mum/dad's

lallysmum

I'm another annoying parent. I have to drive as the school is a 40 minute walk away, through fields, not on paths and is really rather unwalkable in the winter.
Ds (6) is autistic and really struggles with change of routines and stuff like that. I had a morning place to park and an afternoon place to park, the morning place could be anywhere within a 3 car space parking area, but the afternoon place had to be exactly the same space every day. This was impossible and ended up with me going to the school at 2.30 every day (for a 3.10 pick up) so I could get the *one* parking space that wouldn't result in a 3 hour meltdown.

It was a nightmare, so I now pay someone who lives near the school £5 a week and we park on their drive for 10 mins in the morning and 10 minutes in the afternoon.

custardy

well as someone in the city. I would say the majority of school run parents dont have to (at least in the manner they do at present)
every school I know of is a nightmare at school start/finish times
some schools have started to have parking exclusion zones due to parents behaviors in their cars
taking the cars fine. its this dogmatic approach of getting as close to the school as possible and putting other people at risk through it

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

chewynut wrote: »

I'd be surprised if they managed to quadruple it because I was in the last year that only had one class. There were two classes for each year that followed me and the buildings were crammed full even then. I don't think they could've fit many more children in. Certainly not enough to quadruple the number of cars.

Like others have said, some parents are driving down from the estate at the top of the [STRIKE]gentle incline[/STRIKE] hill.

Reminds me of the DDs' school run. A quarter of a mile from us on the top of the hill to the school gate. And, without fail, halfway down the hill we would pass a couple of parents loading their dumpy eleven year old offspring for the 15 second drive to the bottom of it, where they would park in a cul de sac and walk the rest of the way. Never even got out of first gear. Could have taken the handbrake off and rolled there. And then they'd drive home again until repeating it all at 2.30 to get the space for the 3.30 pickup.

dizziblonde

See it's more of a faff round here to contemplate getting the car open, de-icing the car in the winter (probably my least favourite job in the world), getting kids into the car and the car turned around to even consider driving to a school!

We live less than 2 minutes' walk from the local school (it's literally bottom of the road and round the corner) - and yes, people on this street DO do so (and then come straight back home again so only doing the school run - not en-route to work either)!

Having had the misfortune in the past to be a class teacher when another head sent a letter home (this one sent in the light of a child being hit by a bus in the parking chaos and poor visibility outside school one morning as well - on a GOOD day it was Wacky Races out there) looking at interest in using a supermarket carpark 5 mins away as the drop-off base for a supervised walking bus into school... and having the joy of a 10 minute swearing session directed at me by one of the parents in the class over the letter I'd had no input in other than handing it out with everything else at the end of the day - I fully understand the chaos and fighting a losing battle loads of schools are up against with it all... I'd never buy a house on the same street as a school (yes we live near ours but because of how the roads are we're just outside the ring of parking mayhem thankfully) - people just lose the plot where school pick-up parking is concerned.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

In fairness, it isn't every school that's a problem. Where I live now, there's a small primary school halfway down and there's no problems at all, perhaps because it's within walking distance of the town centre, so anyone living in the catchment will leave the car at home.

SingleSue

I am another one who has to drive to school, the boy's school is almost an hour walk away (catchment high school) which eldest has done in the past before his joints became bad but all 3 boys have disabilities which make it either unsafe (middle), too freaky (youngest) or too painful (constantly dislocating eldest), for them to walk.

Mind you, I have a parking permit for the school car park because of it.

When they were at the primary school over the road from here*, we used to walk it unless I was doing extra day time hours at work, in which case, I would drive, drop them off and then get the hell out of there in the hope I would arrive at work in time to get a space there!

*Well, down the road a bit, through an alley and then over the road!

giraffe69

When I went to school, the only kids that went in cars were ones that had "difficulties" and most kids would not be seen dead being dropped off my mummy, and if you did, you would get mercilessly bullied.

Ah the good old days!

atarisrocks

we have a parking area next to my house which has a alleyway that leads to the school. parents arrive around 1.30pm to pick up their kids which get let out around 3.30pm they just stick their cars where ever they want and some days the car park is 4/5 cars deep so no one can leave until the one behind does which results in lots of shouting and ive witness a few punch up. i now know on school days i can not park near my house until 4.30ish and cant not get my car out the car park in the same time. they even park around the roundabout as they argue they only going to be there 5 mins.

custardy

atarisrocks wrote: »

we have a parking area next to my house which has a alleyway that leads to the school. parents arrive around 1.30pm to pick up their kids which get let out around 3.30pm they just stick their cars where ever they want and some days the car park is 4/5 cars deep so no one can leave until the one behind does which results in lots of shouting and ive witness a few punch up. i now know on school days i can not park near my house until 4.30ish and cant not get my car out the car park in the same time. they even park around the roundabout as they argue they only going to be there 5 mins.

this is more like it!

atarisrocks

if it my day off and nothing on tv i just go to the window and watch the carnage it like wwe meets jeremy kyle some days