That's what parents must be thinking. I say parents, but I mean mothers. I've never seen a father do this...at school, that is.
From time to time, a friend or neighbor will ask me, for various reasons, if I can drop their kids off at school. I have to take my son to school in the same direction, so I don't mind. Today was one of those days, and I yet again experienced the "My kid is so cute!!!" mommy.
In every carpool line I've ever had to be in, beginning when my son was in preschool, there are mommies who have to adoringly watch their offspring from the moment they get out of the car until they are inside. Usually they're waving bye bye to their child and the child doesn't even know it, as they are walking up the sidewalk and cannot see mommy's beaming face and waves.
I'm not talking about watching a child walk into school because there is no other adult around. There are usually 2-4 adults on duty to help kids out of the car, carry projects, and so on. But these mommies sit there, while the carpool line is backed into highway, waiting to enter the school driveway. They sit there waving and beaming like they're never going to see the child again. They don't care that other parents need to get to work, or that they are holding up the line.
Today, this happened again, at a middle school at that. I had one more child to drop off at the high school, and 3 minutes to spare. There I encountered yet another Beaming Mommy. Middle school! Mommy sits there waving at her daughter's back, the entire time the girl walked to the door. I gently nudged my horn, to let her know that someone else was waitiing. Her beam turned to a scowl and she waved at me, but only with one finger. Then proceeded to drive away as slowly as she could, just to be a pain. Thank God I don't have to live with such a painful person.
Dear parent, why do you do this? I should say Dear Mom, because I have never observed a male adult do something so odd. Now, if he was dropping off his daughter at a library, mall, movies, etc., I could see sitting there to make sure she got safely inside. But at school, with other adults around whose job it is to make sure the students are safely seen into the building?
Dear Mom: Get a life!
Anonymous Parent
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3 comments:
Amen sister! I get so tired of these moms too. I had to wait for one to get out of the way yesterday. I was walking across the parking lot to go into the school and had to wait for her to move her car so we could get to the entrance. She sat there waving at her little baby. When baby didn't turn to wave back mom honked the horn. Then she got the wave she needed. Mom needed, cuz obviously the kid couldn't care less!
I hardly ever drive my kids to school. Why should I? They provide a free school bus for a reason. So on the rare occasion when I do have to drive my kids to school they are lucky if I slow down long enough for them to jump out. We can wave at each other later when the bus brings them home!
Gee, I was feeling guilty because my electronic van doors take so stinking long to close while I'm trying to hustle out of the way after dropping off and/or picking up my daughter. At least I'm not prolonging the agony by trying to wave to my daughter at the same time!
And, she pays attention and knows when I'm coming and the teacher never has to call her name to come to the front to be picked up. I can see an occasional lapse (in attention or because someone different is picking up a child), but some kids just don't care that they are holding up the line. And, their parents obviously don't care either because it tends to be the same kids every day.
Thanks for the post (and for letting us vent!)
I don't have kids so haven't seen it happen in that line at school. However, I've been stuck behind a school bus with similar results. Bus is sitting with lights blinking, but no child in sight. Finally, a child comes slowly walking out of the house, down the sidewalk, with Mom right with him. Mom gets on the bus with him (!) and whatever is going on there takes a while. Then Mom gets off the bus and talks to the driver for a while, giving me the hairy eyeball the whole time because I have the nerve to be sitting behind the bus. I probably looked annoyed, but I wasn't honking or having a hissy fit. If anything I was in a state of disbelief.
As far as I could tell, this wasn't a bus for kids with any sorts of disabilities, nor was the child too young to get on the bus by himself -- he looked to be about 8-10ish.
I. Don't. Get. It.
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