School Drop Offs

A ritual like no other…

Things have changed over time.  Growing up we did not get dropped off by our parents at school (at least I/we did not).. We either rode a bus or walked to school.  Fast forward forty years, to today and it seems like most families end up dropping their kids off at school be it public or private.  We chose private school for pre-K through 8th grade; catholic school for our family and christian school for Cha Cha’s family..  The first day of school is either marked with sheer joy or terror…sometimes for both the kids and the parents.   We’ll stick to school drop off for “big kids” for this post. For the sake of definition we’ll define “big kids” as 4th graders -8th graders (High school drop off will have to be addressed separately). Most schools have a drop-off lane, for fancy folks it's called a valet line, for the rest of us it’s an anthropological study of sorts. Drop off lanes are for parents to DROP off their kids! I’m not sure what happens, but as the clock draws closer to the morning tardy bell in schools across America student drop off zones become Hunger Game zones.  If you want to see what a parent is really like, watch how they conduct themselves at school drop off.  Especially when it gets close to the tardy bell…I’ve seen horns honked, one fingered hand gestures through windows, heard wheels screech and comments thrown that would make professional lip readers blush.  I’ve also witnessed a parent hit another parent’s car pulling out of the drop off line. Tis true. 

Who knew, rules don’t apply to everyone? With hindsight in my rearview mirror, now I know  that the school drop off policies were just a suggestion.  The world is everyone's oyster- it is acceptable to get out of the car, walk around the car, get your 8th graders backpacks out of the trunk (they are too busy texting to help and desperately trying to be cool), hug and kiss your kids after they get out of the car(not a bad thing, but the drop off lane is not the place) and then proceed to tidy up your trunk…..while in the drop off lane.  Situational awareness- not observed.  Meanwhile, The rest of us are frantically watching our phones as the minutes tick away in the backed-up drop off lane, but not to fear we have all the time in the world to wait for you to load yourself back into your car, apply a fresh coat of lip gloss, check out your Insta , take a sip of your Stanley cup, and then drive away.   I definitely broke some school drop off rules. BUT I never got out of my car.  Let's start a” pay it forward movement” for  future generations of parents, let’s lead by example.   School drop off lanes are for drive up, STOP, UNLOAD, & GO.  Pull into a parking space if you have car housekeeping chores to complete, need to pack lunches in backpacks, review homework, and (this is my favorite) coif your students' hair.  Please keep the school drop off lanes flowing:)