Things that drive you mad about the school run

[HoneyFlowers]

I'll start... The group of parents who stop to chat on the pavement right in the way of everyone.

The DC! (Mine)

The performance parenting

It always rains even if it hasn't rained all day. With the occasional hailstorm for variety.

Also people leaving do poo all over the path!

The people

The parents who believe that driving across the busy pavement (not a driveway) to park on a grass verge. Or abandoning their cars dangerously.

The people who think its acceptable to drive at the lollipop lady.

Parents who park their cars like dickheads which makes it unsafe for everyone. It happens every single day. A 5 year old could park better than half of the parents at my child's school.

Now that my DC have left school - I miss the school runs!

The one way systems that were put in place for covid/social distancing that are now irrelevant and make everything take longer just for the sake of it.

No free parking in a mile radius of the school meaning lots of illegal and dangerous driving around the school. We walk and are lucky to be able to but lots of parents can't and this shortsightedness on behalf of the council/local authority makes it dangerous for pedestrians and car users alike. And incredibly stressful!

Getting out of the door. 2 seconds before we leave Dd loses something, or I can’t find keys/a shoe/book bag/ I suddenly remember Dd had to wear red or bring an iguana to school or something.

The actual walk is lovely (3 mins compared to 45 min nursery run!) and getting into school is fine. Just getting out the frigging house!

People leaving their car engines running while waiting in the car

The parents who drive their kids to school despite it taking longer to drive than walk.

The bloody awful dps with ddogs they aren't nice to...

Drivers not indicating, in wrong lanes and having to cross busy roads with young dc,pram. The ridiculous school system with narrow paths and millions of gates, people letting their kids run all over barging into people and scooters etc flying around a busy space. Those groups of parents that stand chatting blocking the path. The slow joined at the hip chatting folk who taken eternity to get to to the entrance and block the path! People who have picked their dc up and don't let others who haven't past.It is absolute carnage.

Yes… n my memory, it rained every day at 3:30 for the entire time that the kids and I walked to school. I vividly remember one torrential downpour.. me three kids, buggy, halfway home.. someone offered to drive us the rest of the way.. figured that by the time we had wangled everyone into the car and soaked the inside of their car, we could be already half way home.. felt pretty miserable watching them drive off.. we couldn’t have all fitted anyway.. but I do also remember lots of sunny days spending hours at the swings after school on the way home and also dragging the kids home on a sledge when without fail, we left it 5 minutes too late before calling it a day and going from all having fun to all freezing cold and crying in less than 2 seconds.

The 20 parents in front all trying to speak to the poor teacher on the door about real trivial things, whilst she’s politely telling them to email
Her for the 100th time this term

Teenagers on bikes on the pavement
Cars always stop over the crossing so when the green man comes on we have to cut between cars

I used to be a sociable drop off person, talking to other parents on the playground but now I just drop and run because I noticed there was a lot of drama/politics and I CBA with it.

I'll second the dog fouling.

Why do so many people take their dogs to school? Large dogs loudly barking. Small dogs - yapping, yapping, yapping. Confrontational dogs chasing after other dogs. People being forced to walk out of their way to avoid dogs jumping up. Dog fouling all the way up to the school gate.

My granddaughter likes to go to school on her scooter and I push her younger brothers in a double buggy.

There's many a time I have to walk on the road (main, busy road) to avoid going through the vile mess as it's been spread widely by people treading in it and trying to smear it off the bottom of their shoes. (Both sides of the pavement are equally bad.)

The pram and the scooter have to be folded into my car.

Wheels on both are often stinking of acrid dog mess. The last 100 yds of pavement is absolutely disgusting.

It makes me heave cleaning up other selfish peoples' dog s%*t.

I pick up my kids earlier as my dd has asd so I pick her up slightly earlier as she finds the crowds stressful, school finishes at 3.20 but I pick her up at 3. Every single day the same group of parents stand right by the front gate waiting for school to open, none of them ever pick their kids up early they are just literally there 20 mins early and block the front of the gate so there is now where for me to stand (have to stand by the front as when they see me they bring dd out) but thanks to this group of parents there is never anywhere to stand, why can’t they just stand out of the way?! Why block the front gate, why can’t they stand across the road or to the side. It drives me mad I can’t understand people who get to the school 20/30 mins early just to stand outside the gate!

Also there is one mum who has the loudest voice and walks like she's so important and if her child gets a certificate the whole playground hears about it!

Dog poo. The amount of dog poo has increased massively in the last few months. Piles of poo and then poo footprints to be dodged every few meters

Car seats on the road side of the car 🙃 and people standing in the road with their door wide open taking an age putting their kids in/out.
It’s not difficult to turn the car around and have the car seat on the side of the pavement.

Oh yes and people hanging around with dogs outside entrance, yes I let alone my toddler do not want to brush past it to get into the school! And also people taking dogs for walks on the school route at the busiest times right around drop off and pick up if, if they cross over the road from the school they have a clear path, it's madness! They have an option with no kiddsto take to school.

kids to*

Dog muck. Kids zipping past on bikes/scooters almost knocking us over. Slow walkers Infront being oblivious and getting in the way. The bloody awful gobshite 'queen bee' mother on the playground who gave me the fakest smile last week. Ugh.

Ugh. The ones that stop and chat. Blocking the whole pavement. Especially when I do the nursery run after the school run, they’re all still there! Is it really necessary to block the path for 40 minutes! It’s madness.