rant alert.................psycho in a small rage, either tell me to get a grip, or agree that I am ok to be annoyed (altho I realise you will all say 'get a grip' anyway[wink]).....

[psychomum5]

I do the school run for a friend.

she is a single mum who also works (well, she did, she lost her job in the hols), and so I offered to do her morning school run for her since DS2 was in reception (he is now yr2), and she often helps with mine in the afternoons if she is able.

now, apart from when I had my car accident and could not do it thro not driving, it has worked out fairly well. a few issues, but not major ones and also not ones that make me want to rant.

however, since june things have not been great, and things were bugginh me a little....altho I wonder if it was everything getting tough for her.

there have been times when the children did not get to me until 10mins after I needed to leave (they live at the top of my road but in a side cul-de-sac which makes it hard for me to collect them as I have a people carrier and it is sometimes hard to turn round with all the cars parked down there). if I sent my children up to see if they were coming, sometimes the mum had only just got up or they were ill (fair enough, it happens), but she never ever rang me to explain, and if I ring her, everytime it goes straight to answerphone).

a couple of times the school rang me to say that the little one was poorly but they could not get hold of the mum at all and please could I go collect......now, that is not fair on the little girl, when she is poorly she wants her mum.

anyway, the mum went away on holiday abroad and her mum had them, so that she could have a well earned break.......lovely as she needed it as I know how hard it is being on your own from when my DH works away, and even then, I still don;t have it as hard as I do not have the money worries that she has. well, when she got back, I thought that maybe she had changed a little....that all the previous 'blips' were just down to her struggling with 3 on her own.

seems not, going on how she has been in the week since they went back.......the first two days they did not go in until very late, as altho I knocked before they went back to ensure she needed me, and also knocked those mornings too, she did not answer the door.....seems she over slept each day.

I managed to get hold of her on the wednesday to find that she was having issues getting the children to bed before midnight, and so she was taking them once they all woke up.

thursday fine, as was friday, altho both days I had to wait for her to go to the shop for food for their lunches........now, flame informs me that it is quite normal to make lunch boxes in the morning when I was ranting at her last week about it.....that I am just very anal about making them the night before (I don;t know why people don;t make them the night before tho, sooooo much easier!!! but I accept that in this I ABU).

and today.......

I had to do my elder girls school run and help my friend who normally takes them.....she could not so I took hers and mine.

this we knew since saturday, so I have spent since saturday trying to get hold of her to tell her that I could not do todays. she has not been in, she has not answered her phones, I have left messages to tell her, and even poked a note thro the door telling her to let me know that she had had the messages (so I could relax and go without worrying about the children turning up at my house and panic as we were not there!).

and nothing.......

I could not in all honesty leave kiddies without a lift unless I knew that she knew, so tried still more this morning.....nothing again, so I went out my way to come back and knock.......and there she is, in her dressing gown as she over slept again, surprised to see me as early (I did so well I was 10mins early so she would have been surprised anyway).

I asked her if she had got my messages about the school run issues......no! she ignores her phones in case it is people harrassing her for money, and the note was finally located in amongst other letter she had placed on the stairs. she just ignored that too.

now, I am not sure if I am just too organised and she is normal, or if she is struggling and I am not sympathetic enough, or if I am just getting irate for no other reason that I can and do (regularly at timems).

arghhhhhhh

sorry for the length, but I do feel better (ish)

school is almost two miles away, and up a huge great hill, so it takes over half an hour to get there, on my speed (I walk fast!).

she could get the bus, but the buses in our area charge full fare for all children before 9am, and just a one way ticket is £1 . that would mean her spending £6 a day, and if she is that worried about money she just cannot afford that.

and she doesn;t drive...hence why I offered. I have the room and am going the same way with children who are friends with my children.

BandofMothers....I have five, so for me, three seems like a doddle.

but obviously, when you are low, any child is hard, which I get.

we will see.......she did get them to me earlier today.

That is disgusting to charge for school run, is there a school bus???

I think you are lovely to offer, but perhaps you need to say, look if you can't get them to me on time I am going to have to stop doing it. I do think that it is the least she could do when you are nice enough to take them for her. She ought to be able to get them ready in time adn sleeping late is not a good enough excuse imo (harsh perhaps). They are her kids, they need to go to school, get out of bed and sort it. I know how tough it can be when you are low and they are doing your head in, you'd think she'd be glad to get them out the door and get a bit of 9RELATIVE) PEACE.

tIME TO BE TOUGH PERHAPS, i AMSURE SHE WILL NOT LIKE THE IDEA OF TREKKING UP THAT HILL, ESP WITH WINTER COMING, BUT AS SOMEONE ELSE SAID EARLIER, IT IS HER RESPONSIBILITY TO GET THEM TO SCHOOL AND YOU SHOULDN'T LET YOUR KIDS SUFFER AND BE LATE AND GET YOU IN TROUBLE FOR THAT, JUST FOR HER SAKE. i THINK DEFINATELY IF YOU ARE GOOD ENOUGH TO TAKE THEM AND ENABLE HER NOT TO HAVE TO LEAVE THE HOUSE AND TRUDGE UP THAT HILL DAILY, THEN THE LEAST SHE CAN DO IS GET THEM TO YOU ON TIME.
Oh bum, just seen that I have been shouting, didn't mean to must have hit the capslock, but cant be arsed to retype it all.

BoM....there is a school bus, but here is another rant......

the school right by us was closed down in july. I had had issues with the school tho 3yrs ago (they were failing my dylexic DD2), and so I pulled all mine out.....to great success.

now, the school has been closed down for failing, and a third of the children have come to my current school......but as it was not their fault they have lost their school the school have given them a daily bus to get them there....all good you might think, a bus that goes from the end of our road.

no, for us it is not. as we did not stay loyal to that school (no, we stayed loyal to our children!!!!) we do not qualify for free bus, or even half fair.......we have to pay. and full price too............

oh, and as there is a bus now going from there to the school, the old bus route that used to run has been pulled.

but, that is a whole other rant and one I think might be going to our local echo very soon!

oh god DONT mention the school bus!!!!

runnnnnnnnnnnnn

sorry
But my point here being, HER kids could take the bus, NO?????? For free????

no, she also did not stay loyal and therefore also does not qualify for free.

lol @ NS running.........I think she got my rant about the school bus on the phone last week.

makes me mad that they can give free to the other children (which is fine, I have no issue with that), but can charge adult for our children.

at least charge child-fare, but noooooo, has to be full!!!

On the free school dinners - it's not too late to apply - you can do it any time, as people's circumstances often change in the middle of the school year.
You can find detailshere

rusty, mwha, thankyou.

that will help her so much. and I can tell her