School run mum

Good advice. Will definitely help the OP make friends and influence people at the school gates😂

Shrug nonchalantly and say “Jealousy’s a curse, twat.”

That’s what I’d assume also. The woman clearly has no clue where the op lives but the op has fhis whole scenario in her head.

If anyone smiled/smirked and made eye contact with me when dropping dc off at school I would say - good morning, how are you doing? (not in a Joey creepy way!) and then some random comment about the weather.

I would not make up in my head they had a problem with me unless they completely ignored me (even then, I would get into their eyeline and repeat incase they never heard me), or said something negative back. If she did say something directly about driving I would simply say back - I would really love to be able to walk, especially in this weather, but we live further away/time is tight as I need to get to work/I can't walk far/yes I am a lazy cow.

Perhaps her child said to her can we get a bus to school mum and she has said no we are not lazy maybe just looking around when she said it, it might not have been aimed at you.

Ignore her. She's obviously trying to get a rise out of you. Don't give her the satisfaction. You don't have to justify yourself to anyone.

Or her kid was whinging at walking to school and she said they walked as they weren’t lazy and it was nothing to do with the op.

Just ask her if she has a problem

Also she might be doing it as you keep staring at her, most folks don’t like that, and you need to be staring as you’d not know otherwise. Honestly some people really dislike it, and will smirk or something, when they see someone doing it.

There are a lot of smirking people on MN. I have a resting bitch face myself with a heavy jaw, and I am always acccused of smirking/sneering/sulking when I am usually thinking about what to make for dinner.

This. I once had a very nice conversation with a woman from the same village in the playground as our children played, after which she blanked me completely every time I saw her. I spent ridiculous amounts of time wondering what I could possibly have done to cause it. It turned out from acquaintances months later that she was extremely visually impaired (unable to drive etc) and simply wouldn't have been able to see me well enough to recognise me on the street. When she sat close by on a bus, she recognised me and was very friendly. I had created an entire scenario in my own head, based on misinterpreting her failure to see me as disapproval.

Maybe she just smiles oddly.

A wise person once told me not to do other peoples thinking for them. - you have no idea what she is thinking.

Snide remarks harder to dismiss - but just say to your DC, in her ear shot, very bad traffic driving those 5 miles in from 'outside village' this morning wasn't it' if you are bothered and want her to know you live a good bit away

I snidely smirk at a lot of school mums- and dads. All the ones who park right on the junction outside school, meaning the children have to cross the roads between parked cars. All the ones who park on the bus stop. All the ones who think it's fine to park on the pavement on the corner of my road- in sight of some safe, empty parking spots. I smirk to hide my rage.

How's your parking, OP?

To see this you just be proper staring , stop it. You won’t see the looks anymore.

You might find that's the Ice breaker for you both. If after the reciprocated hellos she is nasty then just move on. Learn to walk on by and not pay attention.

Benefit of the doubt here but maybe her smirk is actually her smiling to you to try and be friendly. Do you ever smile back or say hello? If not why not?

Ignore and get on with your day. Life is too short and you can't accurately know what she's thinking.

Kill her with kindness. Oh you’re so lucky living close enough to do that! It takes us 15minutes to drive here; it would take us over an hour to walk.

Or she may not have noticed you at all and this is all in your head. Many of us have busy lives, her “smirk” maybe her resting face or half-smile. You’ve created a big narrative about the thoughts of someone you don’t even know! And if you’re correct, so what? Why not talk to her?

Jaysis, why do you care ???

It is none of your business what people think of you.

Just live your best life and other people get on with theirs.

Even my 9 year old knows this

Focus on your child. Be engaged and talking with your child. She can virtue signal about walking but you don’t need and aren’t seeking her approval or friendship. Smile say good morning and be unaffected by her. She does seem odd and I can see were it would be a bit stressful encountering her but drop off is business and treat it as such not an awkward party where you are being ignored or minimized. I do like @Whisperingsummerishere sunglasses idea for providing a bit of barrier to her stares.

Oh who cares. She's a stranger who happens to have a child at the same school as you. Just ignore her.

Not the school run but i work with someone who's just like this

Snide comments and dirty looks while stirring the pot with others

I kill him with kindness-not over the top but just enough so he looks like a twat if he carries on (which he does)

He can't claim I'm the nasty one (I'm not) but he does have a habit of running to the bosses claiming I have been

It's got him nowhere as I've genuinely not risen to him and his horrid comments

My advice is,big smile,'morning,lovely weather today!' and then walk off

It confuses the hell out of them

Just approaching her and ask her what her problem is

I live a 10 minute walk from school but I'm off to work after in the same direction and don't want to walk back home and get my car.
If Mrs nosy thinks I'm lazy so be it, she doesn't need to know my business and that woman has no idea your circumstances either.