Youngest last year of primary and I can't wait for school run to end !

[flutterby1]

Am I the only one ? So many other mums are upset and sad it's ending!

I was happy when my youngest finished primary school. I was a little bit sad about it being the end of an era but he was ready to move on, and DH and I were very happy to bring 15 years of the school run to an end. We live in the countryside and primary school wasn't walkable or safe to cycle so our children couldn't ever travel independently but there is a bus to the secondary school. It made life so much easier once they were able to get themselves too and from school. They had a brilliant time at primary school and they, and we, made some great friends there, but by the time the youngest left we knew it was a phase of life that was over. The friendships that mattered continued without the school (still do in fact, though all the DC are adults) and there comes a time when you have to move on. I think it's a positive thing if you don't miss things like this too much. You can still look back fondly without wanting to still be there.

My DD is only in Y1 but I feel kind of anxious at how sad I'll be when it comes to an end! Is this weird... I love feeling like part of a community. We can walk to school and I like the fresh air twice a day and having a chat with people in the playground. I think life will feel smaller when these days end and I'll have to make sure I make the effort to have social interaction with people, as I won't have that "ready made" social interaction twice a day.

Mn is so weird about the school run. It was a completely unremarkable part of my day (or DH’s, whoever was dropping on any given day). At one school, fellow-parents weren’t particularly friendly so I tended to wait solo, at the second I made good friends with other parents of children in DS’s class, many of whom I still see. At neither school did I encounter ‘cliques’, ‘alphas’, ‘queen bees’, or ‘pinched, tight faces’.

Oh me too! Although I’m a mug and drive my older ones to secondary, but at least I don’t have to get out!

none of this tears business. I was the same when youngest went to primary. I was so ready!

when youngest leaves year 11 in 2031 will have had kids in school since 2012 so 19 years!

You feel like that now @Snowpaw because your DD is still very young. It's good that you're enjoying it now but you may well find that you have both outgrown it by the time she comes to leave. I absolutely loved my DC's primary school. The staff were fabulous and I never had any issue with any of the other parents either, they were all at least pleasant and some became lifelong friends. It was an important part of our lives for a long time but I still closed the gate and walked away happily on my youngest's last day. It was a phase that had been good but that was finished and I had no regrets. How you feel at the end of year 6 may well be very different to how you feel now.

I'm still doing a school run until my younger child finishes secondary, so until summer next year. I knew that would be the case when I chose her school, but now that I think about it there isn't really a school that would be more convenient from where we live and it's only a 15 min drive unless there is a jam on the motorway. If she gets a move on and does some lessons and passes her driving test then she can potentially drive herself to and from school during her final year. At the moment she gets a lift from a neighbour most mornings but I do all the pick ups, next year the neighbour's DC will have left school so I'll be doing mornings too (I hate mornings).

I honestly cannot wait for this, but sadly still have another 3 and a half years to go

I kept myself to myself timing drop offs and pick ups to perfection - no issues with any of the playground people, just not in the mood for small talk really.
Some people get there so bloody early! (I appreciate there are lots of reasons why)

I miss the two short bursts of functional walking every day. They're hard to replace

I don't miss the loitering on the playround part. The 20/21 school year was a low point with the stupid staggered drop-offs meaning 2x 10 mins hanging around between year groups "coz Covid". I remain unsure how exactly loitering and risking hypothermia was a "Covid Safe" thing to do when it just meant forcing people to hang around rather than do the job and go. Some poor sods with bigger age gaps had to waste 2x 20 mins every single day.

Our school runs phased out in y5-6 for DS2 as he took himself. Ironically most days I tend to end up driving the secondary run most days because autistic DS1 has a finite capacity for catching the bus regularly after surviving a school day.

Going against the grain here but I really enjoy the walk to/from (primary) school. It gives me/DD a chance to just have a 15 minute catch-up with no other distractions. And I appreciate the gentle exercise.

My youngest left 2 years ago. Parents cried. I was like thank fuck!!!

I have one in year 6 and one in year 5 and they walk themselves so my school run days are already over!

I often think I I want a third if I could escape all school runs / meetings / Christmas fares / parents evenings. I might.

Neither did I. I'm just pleased not to have to do the school run. Simple as that and nothing weird about it. It's more strange to have such a strong reaction to other people being pleased not to have to do the school run.

When primary ended for my youngest I was very happy. Not so much because of the school run, but because I could leave all the primary parent nonsense behind. Those parents I liked and made lasting friendships with were fantastic helpers and mates.

But, oh my word, the years of PTA and class rep shite. The years of pushy and entitled parents causing trouble. The ‘organisers’ (nearly always mums, sadly) who pursued everyone else for donations, commitment and praise.

None of that bollocks at secondary. 👍

i envy you OP the school run years havent even started for me. we are basing everything around the school runs - DC starts school in sept. we are working out days in office, who does the school run on what days, compressed hours, working less etc :(

I don't think it's the people, it's the actual journey surely? We're close to the school so it's not a problem for me but I know other parents have to get the unreliable bus, have the stress of traffic and parking if they drive or just have to walk 30mins+ in all weathers with a couple of loitering children... I'd be celebrating the end of that.

I was looking forward to not having to do the school run anymore, then the year DD went to high school I got a job as a lollipop lady so that didn’t happen 🤦‍♀️

@PotOfViolas

Maybe you feel differently because you didn't do the school run every single day twice a day for 9 years?

That was for Six Top

I was so happy when it ended with my now 15yo

thing is i now have a 16mo so back to the beginning for me.

I couldn't wait for the school run to finish- it ended when dc1 left 6th form in one town (no bus there) and dc2 finished college in another town (that was a car ride to the bus stop). Now the journeys are pick ups and drop offs at uni and drops offs to socialise lol

I will be against the grain and really miss the school run. I love it, walking them to school, holding their hands or them running ahead and I just get to watch them laughing or interacting with their friends. Gets me out the house for a quick walk and my job is desk based. It makes me cry just the thought of that era being over, we have had a lot of miscarriages and I feel so blessed to be able to even do the school run.

Totally agree can’t wait for it to be over. Love the school and parents are nice, it’s just a bloody pain and a burden. I work from home and interrupting the flow of work for the school run is so annoying.

Am also looking forward to DD having a bit more independence. The primary school doesn’t allow year 6 to leave alone. She is ready to walk to school by herself or with friends. I am counting down the days!

I used to eye roll at all that guff too. My child had been removed before the leaver's assembly so I didn't have to suffer all that, fortunately.