People who are late for school every day or almost every day.

[MrsJAlfredPrufrock]

Why don't you just get up 15 mins earlier?

Oh yes and what about those people who are late fot pick up think this is worse imo.

i wasnt v bad during reception, did suffer a bit from one more job syndrome. i do get ds uniform/bags/lunch etc ready night before and after school stuff.

now in year 1 we have only been late once, we still rush but sometimes we have cuddles n cartoons in bed til 8am then wash, dress n brkfast but still on time

i am a lot better and hope to organised even more as will have a newborn dd after halfterm.

Ha ha YANBU OP as I think the same thing. But I also think the little gaggle of mothers who turn up 15 minutes early every day so they can stand in the playground comparing shoes and highlights are just as bad....

I like to turn up just as the bell rings so I can be an unsociable cow

If dd1 (very sensible aged 8) was allowed to walk the five minutes to school herself, with only one road to cross (there is a crossing lady there anyway) or even via the park, then she'd have no roads at all to cross, she would never be late.

She is my little star on nights I have to work and organises her own things and is always dressed, at the door waiting to leave at 8:30am waiting for me to finish battling with dd2/convincing her to come out of the bathroom/looking for her shoes or redoing her hair that she has just smeared toothpaste in.

The school won't allow this and have told me that they'll call SS if they see her walking to school alone.

Cory - but if you have a child who has morning meltdowns every single day, then you factor that into your day, no? My DD has very long thick hair and a love of complicated hair dos, I factor that into my morning routine. I wouldn't arrive at school late and write 'plaiting hair' in the late book.

there are one or two repeat offenders at my daughters school, we received a letter over christmas informing us it was now being taken very seriously, since christmas as i leave school both families are still arriving late, so i dont think the threat worked, but its made me leave 5 minutes earlier and we are never late.

But you can't always judge the length of a meltdown. Surely?!

DOoin mMeCleanin There is surely nothing wrong with an 8 year old walking to school alone?

There are lots of valid reasons but forceslover's "I am always late, I start of with good intentions, but I start the washing or empty the dishwasher. Does`nt bother me, there worse things than being late!"

..isn't one, IMO!

Don't your DC get stressed about being late? I ended up leaving without DD this morning (DH was at home - I didn't leave her home alone) because she wasn't close to being ready and I don't see why DS should be stressed out about being late (disclaimer: school is 5 mins away, she starts 30 mins after DS, although normally goes in 15 mins after when doors open, so I actually came back and got her and still got her there on time) - I was trying to teach her that I mean it when I say I will go without her, but I suspect it may have spectacularly backfired as she found the whole separate school runs thing quite nice .

Why do you need to write in a book a reason for being late? You are just late, why does the school need to know? Rather judgey IMO!

It's so the school know whether to judge you as being one of those parents or whether it's something completely understandable and therefore OK, forceslover!

It is judgy! That's the whole point. And to shame you into not doing it again!

(and also to record for Ofsted purposes and so that they can enter the correct mark in the register if you were at a medical appointment or something)

MrsJAlfredPrufrock Wed 25-Jan-12 11:07:20
"Cory - but if you have a child who has morning meltdowns every single day, then you factor that into your day, no? My DD has very long thick hair and a love of complicated hair dos, I factor that into my morning routine. I wouldn't arrive at school late and write 'plaiting hair' in the late book."

As Folkgirl says it is difficult to factor in the length of a meltdown and if you are not strong enough to physically haul the child to school then you do need to wait it out.

Dd (who to be fair to her has a chronic pain condition which makes going to school very scary) has alternated over the years between actual meltdowns, vomiting, self-harming, muscle spasms and severe hyperventilating. I can't predict what is going to happen on any one morning, but chances are something will. It's not quite the same as plaiting hair, you know.

Thge beginning of a school day sets the tone for the rest of it, teachers should not be disrespected so much by parents who couldn't give a shit about their own child's embarrassment from being late and the disruption it causes everyone else.

Honestly have some of you got no regard for your child, child's teacher and child's class?

As a childminder I have the same parents who are late EVERY morning in dropping their child off (eg dropping her off at 9:20 and expecting me to give her breakfast still!!! Never mind what plans I have with my other mindees), and late MOST nights collecting her... always 'sorry, traffic was bad'... so happy they are leaving soon (I gave them notice...) ... I missed a pre-birthday dinner last night because of them . They just try and laugh it off all the time. I am NOT here at their back and call.

Being consistently late is rude and selfish and shows a lack of respect. BAD role model for your child too.

You wouldn't think so would you? She plays in the park right opposite her school during none school hours.

It is dd2 and DH that cause our problems. He won't organise things on the nights I work which means I spend the next the morning running about like a headless chicken looking for dd2's things. While I am doing this dd2 is tantrumming or just plain gawping. Dd1 tries to help get her dressed while I search for bits of missing uniform and shoes, but she is normally attacked for her efforts. DH sleeps through this I try my best to get up earlier on these days, but it just never works out that way. I don't finish work until gone midnight so I am knackered and often sleep through the first two alarms.

We were late this morning. I needed to nip to the shops, we had a whole ten minutes to spare. I had plenty of time to get to the shop and back. But when I got back dd1 was sat crying and dd2 had taken out her bobbles, taken off her shoes and coat and decided she was not going to go to school today, she was going to go to Nana's house instead. Dd1 had been punched in the face by her when she had tried to stop her undressing. DH was in bed

I have a meeting at the school about dd2 later this week, so hopefully should start getting some extra support with her behaviour. I give up on DH.

cory. You obviously have a complex situation that requires flexibility and I don't think this OP is about you.

I repeat that I do understand that most parents do not have such valid reasons. But if you judge all the parents you see, you will be judging one or two parents in a situation like mine as well. And they will know from your cat's bum's face. I do know it. I do feel it.

Why should being late be shameful? I am late it is just one of those things! Being late isn`t illegal, I am always late. I gave up trying to be on time years ago to stressful! Such a bad parent!

DO. I think I would ensure that a uniform was out before I went to work (you must have two) and thta's only if I had placed sanctions on my DH if he couldn't be decent enough to get the uniform out. Perhaps you could forget to do his washing for a week.

PosieParker Wed 25-Jan-12 11:16:51
"cory. You obviously have a complex situation that requires flexibility and I don't think this OP is about you."

well, from my pov the fact that most parents feel they have the right to judge without knowing the facts will mean that they are judging me too

sometimes these judgments will seep back to me ("my daddy says")

only by cultivating a generally tolerant and neighbourly attitude can we be sure not to judge somebody who has, as you say, a "complex situation that requires flexibility"

Force. Actually it is piss poor to be late all the time, you may forgive yourself easily but I guarantee most people make all sorts of assumptions about you, two of which are that you're rude and disrespectful. They may also think that you think your time is more precious than everyone else's.

As interesting as this thread is, I must go and collect DS from nursery before some judgeypants has a moan about me being late :0

I think most of us can see that the parents who are late everyday rarely have any excuse, they'll be those who also drop their children drive by style by stopping on zigzags.

I'm up at 6. Dcs up at 6.30. Ds1 will not do anything like get dressed, brush teeth or ANYTHING without argument, protest and refusal. That's why we are often late.

Getting up earlier would simply mean more minutes of uncooperative behaviour from him. Pointless.

You just don't know what goes on for people in the mornings. Be pleased you're on time but bet you'd be late too in my shoes.

and now has to dash.....