Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

I can't cope with the school run anymore!!

344 replies

PapayaCoconut · 07/11/2019 01:03

I don't drive. (Have a tiny breastfeeding baby, so won't be able to learn until she's older.) DH works looong hours. DD (5) just started school 20-25 minutes walk away.

I just can't do it anymore! DD is so tired some days I have to drag her scooter with one arm and push her sister's pram with the other. In the rain if I'm unlucky.

I'm seriously thinking about hiring a taxi to take us every day... 😖 AIBU?

OP posts:
LightsInOtherPeoplesHouses · 07/11/2019 13:29

Following the green agenda will lead us to authoritarianism and a catastrophic loss of liberty and choice.

And not following it will lead to 'a catastrophic loss of liberty and choice' as we could be facing the collapse of human civilization or at the very least extreme hardship.

lemonloaf · 07/11/2019 13:36

I had a tiny baby and a toddler when dc1 started school. There were various combinations. Buggy board is a good suggestion. Sling is great, I used to wear DH waterproof coat and baby was dry and cosy in there.
I'd even say a double buggy would be good, they get so tired in reception, I sometimes had 2 in the buggy and 1 in the sling.

NoCleanClothes · 07/11/2019 13:39

Following the green agenda will lead us to authoritarianism and a catastrophic loss of liberty and choice.

Too bad. The universe doesn't care I'm afraid. Your insistence on driving a gas guzzling car impacts on my children's freedom to live on an inhabitable planet so your freedom to be a selfish arse is less important.

Sockworkshop · 07/11/2019 13:42

Forget the scooter.
They are a nightmare on the school run and as for carrying it -nope
Cant believe people are suggesting dragging a child along on a scooter -batshit!
Unfortunately this is something you are just going to have to crack on with as your DC are going to becat school for a long time .

Brig93 · 07/11/2019 14:21

🙋 automatic here.. easier to pass them later on can learn additional manual and it's not cost to much 😊

Brig93 · 07/11/2019 14:22

Then*

dottiedodah · 07/11/2019 14:27

Lots of threads on here about walking in all weathers,impacting enviroment etc .FFS she will only be driving in some days and presumably walking some too?.So no one who cares about enviromental issues has a car at all ? Apart from the School Run ,OP has at least 10 /15 years of parties/After School Activities/dropping off /picking up friends /shopping and so on and her husband works until 7.30pm so unlikely to want to do it when he comes in from work!

Sockworkshop · 07/11/2019 14:32

There are no stories of hardship. People walking doesn't equate to hardship ffs

I find it quite shocking that there is so much drama over a short walk to school.
Not from the OP but from others on here.
Also not keen on the sneery ageist reference to Gransnet Hmm
What the heck is going when us oldies are fitter and more capable than the younger generation?
However the OP has a tiny baby and is probably also exhausted/sleep deprived and needs a solution .

SoupDragon · 07/11/2019 14:33

I find it quite shocking that there is so much drama over a short walk to school.

I find the level of smug superiority on this thread shocking.

Andysbestadventure · 07/11/2019 14:34

"Have a tiny breastfeeding baby, so won't be able to learn until she's older" sorry, what? You can leave her for an hour a week.

NoCleanClothes · 07/11/2019 14:40

@Andysbestadventure

A driving lesson should be 1.5 hours. She's probably knackered and doesn't necessarily have anyone she's happy leaving her baby with and I know I would have been way too distracted if I had the baby in the car with me. In any case it might take a year or so to learn so it wouldn't help her at present.

My comment about the environment was just in reaction to the moronic "green agenda" comment. I think trying to walk as much as possible but driving a small baby and child in the rain is absolutely fine and wouldn't want to make someone feel guilty for doing that!

Polkadotpride · 07/11/2019 14:44

OP i used a double buggy for my toddler and reception aged child in reception - he was tired, it was over 2 mile walk and I just couldn't give a toss what anyone thought tbh.

ThatMuppetShow · 07/11/2019 14:50

There are no stories of hardship. People walking doesn't equate to hardship ffs

Indeed, but when you read the drama around school parking, and just see what traffic is like on a rainy day, it's hardly surprising that some of these precious parents who would melt in the rain will be on this forum.

For some people, it IS hardship to get off their backside and consider that a child might be walking instead of being ferried around and stuck in front of a tablet all day.

It's pathetic, but it's real life, we see it every single school day.

DisneyMadeMeDoIt · 07/11/2019 14:54

In the kindest possible way...
Surely you knew this would happen?
(I’m assuming the school hasn’t changed location since DD2 and that DD2 was planned- if either incorrect then ignore me.)

It frustrates me a bit with non drivers who complain how hard it is not driving and those with kids are the worst (in my personal experience).
Realistically, unless you live in a city centre you need a car with small children! I have a lot of friends I met working in the city, who never learnt to drive as it was ‘too expensive and pointless’ but they then moved out to the suburbs and had kids - now all I hear about it rainy school runs and how terrible it is when supermarket delivery items aren’t available 🙄

I do feel sorry for you especially in winter and bad weather but surely you saw it coming - if you can afford a taxi I’d certainly treat yourself to one

allthesharks · 07/11/2019 14:58

Is there a breakfast club at the school which would open early enough for your DH to do the drop off? That only really works if your DD is already waking up early enough. I know my DD used to still wake up early even though she was tired from being at school. The breakfast club might be cheaper than getting a cab and she then might be able to manage the walk back more easily, especially as there's not so much of a rush to get home as there is to get to school.

My DD is in year 1 and at this point last year she was absolutely exhausted, more so than she had been in the first half of the term.

GeePipe · 07/11/2019 14:58

Buggyboard is fine at 5. I used to take my neice and little nephew to school and used to use a buggyboard for neice.

Doobadee · 07/11/2019 15:07

My reception aged child gets so tired walking home he's in tears sometimes. I took him to the gp as I thought there must be an underlying reason for his tiredness. 2 blood tests later, nothing wrong at all. GP said it's TOTALLY NORMAL for kids this age to tire easily, especially after a day at school. Buggy board was a godsend Smile

GinDaddy · 07/11/2019 15:12

Fully agree with the previous poster who said "there are no stories of hardship here"... people walking and sharing their experiences of walking, is not hardship!

It's good to know however where we get the crazed school run parking types from.

Iknewyouwerewaitingforme · 07/11/2019 15:28

A lot of kids don’t like buggy boards. It’s not the perfect solution like so many suggest.
Second getting a sturdier pram with enough storage to take a foldable scooter when she gets bored of it and enough snacks/ distractions/ incentives along the way.

SarahTancredi · 07/11/2019 15:35

GP said it's TOTALLY NORMAL for kids this age to tire easily, especially after a day at school. Buggy board was a godsend

See I struggle to understand what's changed. When we went to school it was normal to walk 20 mins , we went straight into full days and went to the park.after school and played outside on your bike , or climbing trees or football or collecting snails in my case til tea time and then back out again til bath time.

How did we get from that to kids barely managing a short walk home?

Sockworkshop · 07/11/2019 15:39

How on earth is it smug to think walking for 20 minutes ( if capable/ able)is anything other than part of normal life ?
Confused

Potnoodledoo · 07/11/2019 15:49

@PapayaCoconut any chance of coming back to the thread and giving us an update or a little more info please.

Infamy · 07/11/2019 15:57

Our walk was similar and down steep hills there and up then back so scooter didn’t work. We did baby in buggy en route while child walked and baby in sling on the walk home so child could go in buggy (had a lay flat from birth buggy that worked for the older one). Waterproofs and big rain coat (charity shop men size) to zip over sling. We also did lots of chasing games and pretending we were climbing mountains...... good luck, it gets easier.

No shame in taxis sometimes too though!

LightsInOtherPeoplesHouses · 07/11/2019 16:06

See I struggle to understand what's changed.

DS has never walked anywhere in his life because he runs. He is a bundle of energy who needs to be kept busy. I used to walk him for hours after nursery to wear him out

He was still very tired for the first few months after starting full time school. I assume it was because he was so busy learning lots of new things. The curriculum has changed massively since I was a child, is astonishing sometimes the things he's learning!

LightsInOtherPeoplesHouses · 07/11/2019 16:08

You can leave her for an hour a week.

Depends how often the baby is feeding. Sometimes you don't have an hour between feeds!