To not understand this mum

[justalittlelemondrizzle]

I live on the same road as the school ds attends. For the last year I see more and more parents arriving early so they can get a space on the road and then waiting in their cars. There is one lady in particular who arrives at 2pm on the dot every day. The children don't finish till 3.15. She sits in her car all this time with a 2 year old sat in the back. I just think it's a bit odd. Why would you want to sit there for over an hour with a restless toddler instead of parking a bit further away and walking round the corner. Just to add, she doesn't appear to have any problems walking, she's often seen running after the little one when he's finally released from the car.
She also lives about a 10 minute walk away from school.
I just don't get why anyone would want to waste an hour of their day doing this.

Lymmummy I insisted on walking four kids to school this morning in the torrential rain, as I don't have a car.

I drive, but I watch with envy all the mums walking with their children, there's one mum I drive past every day who has quite a long walk I think and I love seeing her, she always looks happy, a lovely mum in my head

Unless it's chucking it down, I walk the 15 minute walk to school to pick up DS on my days off but I do drive and park in the morning if I'm working because I don't have enough time to walk there and back and then be at work on time.
I've passed a school where EVERY space was taken at least 40 mins before the bell, so I'm presuming some of them have been there for over an hour. I've seen all ^.
We also have the mother who parks up in a 3 car bay taking up 2 fricking spaces at least 45 mins early and just sits there with toddler in back.....but she was also the mother who didn't walk her DD into school in the morning after the October half term in P1. Just parked up, got out to watch her DD walk to school on her own then left. I found that a bit weird. I love getting that one last kiss before DS lines up to go in.

I live 4 miles from our school so i have to drive. I get there at 2.40ish (2.30 on a Friday or if it's raining) to be able to get a space. Pick up is at 3.10. It's manic where we are and if you don't get there early you don't get a space or you end up in the bus traffic on a single lane road.

It's become part of the routine now. I take a book/send emails/ make any phone calls that are needed.

I don't really care about her reasons but it's not fair on her younger child. As a one off, fine but why would you have your child in a car if it's avoidable.
As a pp said, park near the closeSt park so the child can play then walk from there

I've done this - not regularly, but with the 2 year old, a 10 minute walk used to take 45 minutes (30 if I grabbed him and put him on my shoulders for the last half so he wasn't investigating everything) - and as lovely as it was on a sunny day, it could drive you loopy if you did it every day (plus I freelance so sometimes had to work).

In my case the little one would go to a playgroup until 1:30pm, which was 20 minutes away. As often as not he would fall asleep, but if he didn't, then the thought of going home, getting out of the car for 1/2 hour then persuading him back in (or immediately starting the walk to school) was a lot less hassle than letting him play in the car for 45 minutes.

Basically, there was no good solution, so I did what I felt like each day, and sometimes that meant sitting outside the school for an hour in the car.

Probably a similar situation but had anyone commented on it to me I'd have thought they had too much time on their hands to take that much notice.

Some people are observant and / or curious. Not a bad thing.

This happens all around here. i don't get it, people spending nearly an hour in their cars just to avoid a few minutes walk.
And some of them keep their engines running the whole time too! If my daughter and I get there early we walk up the hill and hang out in the play park right next to school. We walk past about 20 other toddlers just sitting in cars waiting. Bonkers.

You can walk to the school from anywhere in the catchment!!!

Probably a similar situation but had anyone commented on it to me I'd have thought they had too much time on their hands to take that much notice

You can't help but notice. If I walk into town and come back 3/4 hour before school pick-up time I will see women in cars parked in my street playing on their mobile phones or reading the paper.

I once knew of a mum who would arrive for pickup, with toddler in tow, often at least an hour early. She didn't have a car so they would just be standing outside. Turned out it was because she couldn't tell the time and didn't want to be late.