Heavy Instruments - Do You Drive Your Child To School On Lesson Day?

[swanriver]

Son has started trombone at secondary. Not quite sure whether it is pfb of me to drop off his trombone for him by car (15 mins drive), or help him carry it to school. It is very heavy, and he usually takes the bus, as well as being loaded down with other schoolbooks etc. I've hired one. Should I leave it at home, and let him use the school one for now?

What do other parents do? So far he's only had a violin, which is just about self-portable, even for the clumsiest child.

so it's normal to use school instruments in school then...thanks...
Music department not really explained any of this to me. At primary they provided their own.

Yes - we drop DS off with his saxophone, as he also has games that day, and is laden down!

I know what you mean about it perhaps being a bit pfb...but the way I see it is it's just a nice kind thing to do to give him a hand. I would help a friend or dh if I could with carrying heavy stuff so why not your child?

My DS and DD play electric guitar and they leave one at school to play in lesson and one at home to practice on (have since found out that most of the children are playing the one we leave at school in their lessons so they don't have to carry theirs to school)

When I played cello at school my mum dropped me off and then I walked home with it, had a little set of wheels on the case and home was a 3 mile downhill walk. Must admit the cello didn't last long, I didn't like the carrying home

It's not pfb it's just being a nice person :)

It's not being PFB I gave a lift to a girl totally weighed down with hockey goalie gear the other day.
Private school bus normally goes past her house, but a tractor was pissing about for ages and the driver gave up waiting.
Sixformer who also plays for the local ladies team.

I'm afraid my Y7 DS takes her cello and sax on the bus to school. We do drop her off at the bus stop and collect her from the bus on cello days. Its not possible for us to take her all the time, school 10 miles away and often its several days a week with different bands and groups. Its not our catchment school and it was her choice. We bought a semi-hard case for the cello to protect it.

If she is very unlucky she has both on the same day. Her Y9 brother will sometimes help but often he has a trombone too!

Gah! Yes I do and I am not happy about it.

He plays the French (french?) horn and it is huge and awkward; DH at one time walked up with him (it is 10 mins away) but of late I have been dropping him on my way to work. I hate it tho as I strongly disapprove of secondary school pupils being taken to school - and then look at me doing it!

This is why you should encourage your child to take up the flute

Nope! He goes on the bus regardless - the instrument is a french horn (waves to Clary!).

Mind you DS is a strapping lad, main problem was a tendency to leave the ££££ thing on the bus (honestly I threatened to pierce his ear and clip it on with a dog lead!) . Last time he picked up and old lady who fell over and left it on the bus!

I think the lost property office know our number now....

Yes...sax, PE kit all needed on the same day...plus the odd book! He even persuades me to drive him in when it's flute day....now, where did I leave my spine??

Gah! from over here too, before I go off to fetch DS-and-the-euphonium from school
...but it's not our catchment school, and there's no service bus, and although I could buy him a child bike trailer and make him pedal, I think that would be even worse for his street cred than Being Picked Up By Mum

I'm just glad ds has a double jointed LH thumb which (I hope at least) should prevent him from playing 'cello or double bass so he'll have to stick to the much more reasonably sized violin or viola (if he gets round to doing some practise)(he's only 6 so I'm not pushing it!!!). We had one girl on the school bus who played trombone and that came home on the bus. As did French Horms etc.

One bus driver wouldn't let DD on board with a cello!

It is possible for three sixth formers, two cellos and a bass to fit into a Nissan Micra - but not so easy to get them out again!

I hated taking my cello on the bus. It was a public service rather than a school one and I had comments on it and pisstaking all the time. My mum came and picked me up occasionally when she could and it was very gratefully received. I would do the same for my DC if they play a large instrument as the torture hasn't been forgotten. Not PFB at all, imo.

Unitarian - one of my favourite memories is squeezing two cellos, two sixth formers and one willing mum driver into a Mini Metro (shows age). One of the scrolls had to poke out the window as we drove down one of Birmingham's busiest roads.

My 8 year carries her own trombone to school on lesson days. We have a radio flyer wagon for the double bass though....

DD2 has help walking with her horn to school (she's 9 and it practically reaches the ground).

DD1 is further away, and gets a lift if possible on lesson day, and band days. Her friends play bassoon and cello, so their parents also take turns.

Not PFB at all, just practical.

Thank you everyone! We persuaded the teacher to let ds1 just bring in a mouthpiece and borrow the school trombone this term...but I fear next term he's reverting to the violin, and doing trombone round the corner at local music school instead! Problem solved.
I think when my twins both go to the same secondary school I might be more easily persuaded to drop them off and pick them up