Mixed up days for school pick up - feel awful

So weird to read this as the same thing happened to me today, for the first time in 4 years of school! I am an overthinker and prone to anxiety but honestly apart from a panicky "oh shit" 5 minutes as I ran to the school, I haven't given it a second thought.

I apologised when I picked him up but they didn't seem bothered at all. I love being early so I'm always the first parent there usually, it's just a mistake, it happens!

You can relax, it's no big deal!

Relax. I work in a school. Most of us are parents and get it.

Just send an email to the office apologising and saying you were on the totally wrong day.

We’ve all done it !

You're a human being and you've made a very human mistake
When starting a new job and getting used to a new routine of course everyone's going to drop a few balls!
Be kind to yourself, and yes just drop them a line to thank them.
But don't spend any more time beating yourself up over it.

A practical tip - DH and I make "school pick up" joint appointments in our work calendars. That way we can help each other keep track too

I run a before and after school club that picks up from 2 local schools, I see this happen every single day don't worry! (Usually the same children/parents too)

We also had a parent notoriously turn up to pick her child up 5 minutes after we'd shut every single Friday and he didn't even come to us on a Friday, he went to the after school club at school on that day... meaning she wouldn't have been getting to school until about 18:15 every Friday when they also shut at 6!

The school don’t mind honestly. I work on a school office and we always have kids left. Quite often we have them until after 4pm when the next round of non- collected kids come down from the after school clubs. It’s very annoying when it’s the same kids every single day (there are lots of them) but every parent misses pick up on occasion and if they apologise we really don’t mind. You’d be surprised how many don’t even say sorry!

I got a call on my Christmas afternoon out a few years ago. My OH had forgotten that he was meant to get her. Because I was a few wines down I started ranting about how rubbish he was to the school receptionist. She just laughed and said don't worry she's safe, just give him a call. I think schools realise when it's genuine and know we can make mistakes.

Bloody hell, calm down 🤣 You picked him up and apologised, forget it.

If your Husband was at home, why were involved at all?

I’m a teacher. Happens all the time. At least you are apologetic about it. Most parents don’t seem to care. An email would be a nice gesture but don’t worry. Your son certainly won’t get a black mark against his name.

This happens almost daily at school :) dw

You don't need to email anyone but I think it would be a really nice thing to do especially if it filters back to the person who got landed with minding your DC.

I work in a preschool and this happens to almost everyone sometimes, especially those with a combo of childminders and grandparents and parents collecting. We've had parents turn up to collect when child was already gone with the childminder or had neither show up. On one occasion we had all phones ringing out and the child was left for over an hour before we could get in contact. Things go wrong, we've all done it. I've done it myself and it's upsetting but it's absolutely fine. We just tell the kids that someone is stuck in a traffic jam and they accept it, they rarely get upset and usually enjoy the attention.

who forgets what day it is?!
everyone

Football used to be on Tuesday it's now on Thursday, drama is now on Wednesday, you have 3 kids doing 3 different clubs and you are on auto-pilot. It sounds simple, but real life happens. "Oh fuck!" is the most common thing said by parents suddenly remembering something 😂

There are terrible and tragic cases of parents forgetting their child in a car. It sounds impossible, everyone is saying "how" and some people are very judgemental, but that's the worst case scenario, it DOES happen sadly. I don't know how, the parents will never understand how either.

I know I will do the same one day but so far, I've only been to collect them from places when they weren't there.

Rings the intercom "Hi, I'm er... What day is it?" "It's Wednesday." "Oh OK, thank you. Goodbye!"

Oh my goodness chill. It's fine. It's happened to all of us. There's always one kyd whose parents are stuck in traffic or got the days mixed up. Worst case scenario you pay for the after school care today.

I have done this before - easily done. No need to apologise any more than you have or buy gifts. Don’t worry.

Email or call and apologise. A one off, where the child is collected as soon as possible after being notified, and in the absence of other concerns, won't be an issue.

I have done similar - I thought I had after school club booked, was free a bit early, so decided to have a quick wander round the nearby retail park - until I got a call from school. Profusely apologised, collected my daughter and it was fine.

It happens occasionally, really don’t worry, it gets annoying when it’s the same parents every day but this is not the case

Many years ago I and another mum used to do drop off and pick ups between us. She worked a funny shift pattern, and I worked around her, over a 2 or 3 week rota. Worked a treat, until one day it didn't.
I got a phone call from the school, the minute I saw their number come up I knew what it was for and I was mortified. I had looked at the wrong week, totally my fault and I apologised profusely. These things happen, don't worry about it.

Calm down, your son was safe, in a familiar place and was collected by his other parent not very long after usual pick up time.

Just apologise next time you see the teacher/after school care provider.

YABU - School see this every day and there are no black marks or harsh judgements or anything. Everyone does it at one point in their parenting life.

Forgive yourself, pour yourself a glass of wine and remember we had a serving prime minister who left his kid behind in a pub.
🍷