Sports carpools: What are some best practices for kid/teen behavior while a passenger in a car driving to practice?

[Anonymous]

Are you kidding me, OP? These rides are a goldmine of info on what your teenager experiences. I just keep my mouth shut most of the time and learn. I do step in when things get really negative or they are doing something I find distracting as the driver.

I also find a few moments to chat with my child about what she thinks about some of these things.

[Anonymous]

Gather the intel and stop micromanaging!

[Anonymous]

My kids’ soccer teammates added a basic rule at 15: Eat only what you brought that day.

A teammate gave herself food poisoning and missed about a week of school. She hopped in her dad’s car after practice and quickly ate a sub sandwich which was on the back seat. Apparently it had been there for several days left behind from some other kid.

Have - with other parents’ permission- occasional fun stuff to do. Our car pool had a thing where we drove by a DQ close by the practice facility, but practice was over at 9 and it was always just closed. One of the moms arranged it so on Tuesdays they would keep “open” for an extra 15 minutes. The girls would run - in socks - to get an order. Thank them profusely, and leave. Carpool parent always gave a large tip.

Other car pool story; driving back after late practice - it would usually be closing in on 10 - we would pass a local casual restaurant that closed at 9, but sometimes in the winter they stayed open because the pro basketball team players who lived in the area would come with their families after a game. If we were driving by and the parking lot had some super fancy cars in it we would pull in, and the girls would go in (flip flops or socks) and get fries. They would scout out who was there of course. It didn’t happen a lot, but it made for fun stories. And, they never had to pay. One of the players would always say he had their bill. They would thank them of course (thank you Mr ___”), but never ask for a picture or autograph. Just had to act cool like it was an everyday thing - which I’m sure the guys thought was funny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids’ soccer teammates added a basic rule at 15: Eat only what you brought that day.

A teammate gave herself food poisoning and missed about a week of school. She hopped in her dad’s car after practice and quickly ate a sub sandwich which was on the back seat. Apparently it had been there for several days left behind from some other kid.

Have - with other parents’ permission- occasional fun stuff to do. Our car pool had a thing where we drove by a DQ close by the practice facility, but practice was over at 9 and it was always just closed. One of the moms arranged it so on Tuesdays they would keep “open” for an extra 15 minutes. The girls would run - in socks - to get an order. Thank them profusely, and leave. Carpool parent always gave a large tip.

Other car pool story; driving back after late practice - it would usually be closing in on 10 - we would pass a local casual restaurant that closed at 9, but sometimes in the winter they stayed open because the pro basketball team players who lived in the area would come with their families after a game. If we were driving by and the parking lot had some super fancy cars in it we would pull in, and the girls would go in (flip flops or socks) and get fries. They would scout out who was there of course. It didn’t happen a lot, but it made for fun stories. And, they never had to pay. One of the players would always say he had their bill. They would thank them of course (thank you Mr ___”), but never ask for a picture or autograph. Just had to act cool like it was an everyday thing - which I’m sure the guys thought was funny.

While these are cute stories, this is why a lot of us hate carpools. There is the one parent always stopping for food at 9pm. Even if they text it just puts others on the spot and is so unnecessary. They don’t need fries or ice cream at that hour. It’s late. Go home.

We had this issue with more than one carpool and different families, 2 separate years. Constant Chic fila and 7-11. Our rule is to not stop for anything and just go home no matter how much they ask. It’s late.

[Anonymous]

OP, wait until all the other kids are out of the car and talk to your own kid about why 1-3 are a bad look. Parent your own kid.

Feel free to tell people not to eat in your car if you want. That one is in bounds.

[Anonymous]

OP make sure you’ve loaded Kidz Bop and Wheels on the Bus on your Apple Music.

For FFS 1-3 are ridiculous. Let the kids decompress, through complaining, listening to their own music via earbuds, etc.