Middle/high school pick-up parents: this is what you actually do with your time?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just volunteered for my son’s Spanish party at the middle school, as his teacher asked for parents to assist with set-up, serving food, and clean-up. This was during the second-to-last period of the day.

When I got to my car, a full HOUR ahead of the final dismissal bell, what do I see? A line of cars at least 20 deep, already forming the school pick-up line.

Are you people insane? Do you have nothing better to do with your time? Do you hate comfort? If your kids can’t walk home from school, you know they have buses, right? There’s buses for that. Are you seriously so afraid that Little Spencer or Brayden Jaymes or Lindseigh Grayson can’t handle the bus?

Is this seriously what you do with your time? You send your kid to school to learn about climate change, while you sit there burning fossil fuels and emitting pollution for a FULL HOUR? What is wrong with you?

I thought this was elementary school thing for parents to set up for parties, middle schoolers tend to dislike having parents at parties and rather do it themselves with their teachers.

As far as parents in carpool lane, there are several reasons for parents to do that. They coordinate it with picking kids on their way from work to home, with elementary school sibling pick up, doctor/dentist appointments, holiday shopping trips, afterschool activities etc.

Many are taking work/social calls from the car or other ways to multitask while waiting because going home and coming back would take as mucch time but add extra stress.

Middle and high school car rides are crucial time together for parent-kid bonding. Everyone should make the most of this.

So why not just stay at work and do your work until dismissal? Or work in a I don’t get how waiting in your car for an hour is helpful. If school get out at 3, your options are to arrive at 2, wait and hour, leave at 3:05. Or, arrive at 3:05 and leave at 3:10. You are buying yourself maybe 5-10 extra min tops by sitting there an hour. Is that really necessary?

I’m not an early person, I’m more the person who gets there at 305 and last.

However, my husband will get to school early because his schedule may not allow to go home so he gets to school so he can return emails or make calls. If he leaves later, he may hit traffic. We live in a super high traffic area. When it is bad, it can be an hour of traffic easily. Better to be 30 min early than 30 min late. It isn’t like you can time it perfectly to arrive at exactly 3. Haha I actually do try to time it and often a few minutes late.

Just this past week, I tried to pick up my kid to take him to a doc appointment. I was trying to be 15 min early and ended up being 15 min late. It took me 45 min to get there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have 2-3 kids in my ES class who are kicked up an hour early every day. Every day. They miss math every day. Their parents don’t seem to care. I’ve asked for if there was an issue with someone picking them up on time after school and they all said they didn’t want to wait in the car pool line. They asked me to send home their math for homework. Unbelievable.

Our school banned this, after having so many problems. No pickup allowed within an hour of dismissal (I think that is what is is) unless an emergency. Parents were picking up early every day to get their kid to activities, in some cases! Crazy.

What problems? If a kid knows math and is on grade level in all the numerous tests what’s the problem?

If your child doesn’t need school, then don’t send them. If they do need school, then have them attend the full school day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our nanny gets there early because DD asked if she could get picked up first.

Yikes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In FCPS my kid would be on the bus for an hour. It’s a 10 minute drive to school. I much prefer my child getting more sleep than catching a bus at 6:35 am (after a 10 minute drive to walk).

OP isn't criticizing parents picking up their kids from school. They are wondering why so many are there to pick them up an hour before dismissal.

But a lot of PPs are criticizing parents for picking up their kids in any fashion when the bus is available. Almost everyone at our school qualifies for the bus and yet the pick-up line is very long everyday. I guess all these kids and parents are jerks.

Maybe not jerks, but certainly won’t be winning any environmentalist awards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In FCPS my kid would be on the bus for an hour. It’s a 10 minute drive to school. I much prefer my child getting more sleep than catching a bus at 6:35 am (after a 10 minute drive to walk).

OP isn't criticizing parents picking up their kids from school. They are wondering why so many are there to pick them up an hour before dismissal.

But a lot of PPs are criticizing parents for picking up their kids in any fashion when the bus is available. Almost everyone at our school qualifies for the bus and yet the pick-up line is very long everyday. I guess all these kids and parents are jerks.

It’s not picking them up that OP is criticizing. The the arriving an HOUR prior to dismissal and just sitting there in the parking lot so your child can be one of the first out. Sorry but that is nutty. If you arrive 5 min after dismissal, you will have almost no wait time. Your kid can stand around for a few minutes. They will be fine and probably still get to practice on time

That may be true at your kid’s school but getting to my kid’s school five minutes after the bell means about a 20 min wait till you get back on the road. Your experience is not universal.

But 20 minutes is still better than 60 minutes so your argument is numerically illogical.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the parents who drive to our public middle school every day, twice a day, think they are fancy or something. Like they are pretending their kid attends private school. Often the girls hop of the car with fresh Starbucks.

Does anyone drink old Starbucks? This isn’t a flex!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have never been at the front of the line for pick up for any of my children (2 public, 1 private). I know that when I’m 15 min early, I’m fairly middle of pack. I once tried to get my kid early and got to elementary 30 min early thinking I would be first in line and there were at least 20 cars ahead of me.

To be in the front of line of a school with a thousand kids, it is probably an hour. My child was friends with a kid when she was in preschool and nanny would go to carpool line an hour early because child wanted to be one of the first to be picked up. Nanny would take younger sibling in car early.

Why?! And why would anyone indulge this ridiculously entitled behavior?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the parents who drive to our public middle school every day, twice a day, think they are fancy or something. Like they are pretending their kid attends private school. Often the girls hop of the car with fresh Starbucks.

Does anyone drink old Starbucks? This isn’t a flex!

Who said it was? I think they look moronic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the parents who drive to our public middle school every day, twice a day, think they are fancy or something. Like they are pretending their kid attends private school. Often the girls hop of the car with fresh Starbucks.

Does anyone drink old Starbucks? This isn’t a flex!

Who said it was? I think they look moronic.

I think PP went over your head. Anyway, what’s the issue with pickups/drop offs and Starbucks? I promise you nobody is cosplaying private school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In FCPS my kid would be on the bus for an hour. It’s a 10 minute drive to school. I much prefer my child getting more sleep than catching a bus at 6:35 am (after a 10 minute drive to walk).

OP isn't criticizing parents picking up their kids from school. They are wondering why so many are there to pick them up an hour before dismissal.

But a lot of PPs are criticizing parents for picking up their kids in any fashion when the bus is available. Almost everyone at our school qualifies for the bus and yet the pick-up line is very long everyday. I guess all these kids and parents are jerks.

It’s not picking them up that OP is criticizing. The the arriving an HOUR prior to dismissal and just sitting there in the parking lot so your child can be one of the first out. Sorry but that is nutty. If you arrive 5 min after dismissal, you will have almost no wait time. Your kid can stand around for a few minutes. They will be fine and probably still get to practice on time

That may be true at your kid’s school but getting to my kid’s school five minutes after the bell means about a 20 min wait till you get back on the road. Your experience is not universal.

But 20 minutes is still better than 60 minutes so your argument is numerically illogical.

The point being arriving five minutes after dismissal at our school does not mean no wait time like the PP. It means a 20 minute wait which translates to being late for therapy. Getting to school early and waiting is a longer wait before dismissal but a short time (1 min?) getting on the road after. So 60 minutes (actually more like 45) plus getting to therapy on time is better than twenty minutes and missing half of therapy. Capisce?

[Anonymous]

Once a week for a piano lesson, MS child walked 3 blocks away from the school and I picked them up there. Got K-12 children thru school in FCPS without this driving them nonsense.

[Anonymous]

that's nuts!!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just volunteered for my son’s Spanish party at the middle school, as his teacher asked for parents to assist with set-up, serving food, and clean-up. This was during the second-to-last period of the day.

When I got to my car, a full HOUR ahead of the final dismissal bell, what do I see? A line of cars at least 20 deep, already forming the school pick-up line.

Are you people insane? Do you have nothing better to do with your time? Do you hate comfort? If your kids can’t walk home from school, you know they have buses, right? There’s buses for that. Are you seriously so afraid that Little Spencer or Brayden Jaymes or Lindseigh Grayson can’t handle the bus?

Is this seriously what you do with your time? You send your kid to school to learn about climate change, while you sit there burning fossil fuels and emitting pollution for a FULL HOUR? What is wrong with you?

I thought this was elementary school thing for parents to set up for parties, middle schoolers tend to dislike having parents at parties and rather do it themselves with their teachers.

As far as parents in carpool lane, there are several reasons for parents to do that. They coordinate it with picking kids on their way from work to home, with elementary school sibling pick up, doctor/dentist appointments, holiday shopping trips, afterschool activities etc.

Many are taking work/social calls from the car or other ways to multitask while waiting because going home and coming back would take as mucch time but add extra stress.

Middle and high school car rides are crucial time together for parent-kid bonding. Everyone should make the most of this.

So why not just stay at work and do your work until dismissal? Or work in a I don’t get how waiting in your car for an hour is helpful. If school get out at 3, your options are to arrive at 2, wait and hour, leave at 3:05. Or, arrive at 3:05 and leave at 3:10. You are buying yourself maybe 5-10 extra min tops by sitting there an hour. Is that really necessary?

I am not the PP you replied to but I posted above that I leave after work. I have a job that has a component that is patient interaction and a component that is paperwork. In the clinic it’s almost impossible to get paperwork done because there is too much going on. But my car is silent, and I can be super productive, whether it’s paperwork or work calls or I’m doing something for my family like paying bills or putting together an online grocery order.

[Anonymous]

I hate this. On rare occasions I need to pick my son up from HS for an appointment. I quickly learned that I needed to get there at least 30 minutes early. Such a waste of my time, but sometimes just have to do that to make an appointment on time. I have no idea who these parents are that line up so early for pick up. Maybe their kids are in special activities that require parent transportation?
For us, it is a public school.
My oldest is a senior and driving now, so it has been great to not worry about this for the last year. But next year I’ll have no one driving to school so I will have to remember to get there obscenely early when I have to get them to an appointment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In FCPS my kid would be on the bus for an hour. It’s a 10 minute drive to school. I much prefer my child getting more sleep than catching a bus at 6:35 am (after a 10 minute drive to walk).

OP isn't criticizing parents picking up their kids from school. They are wondering why so many are there to pick them up an hour before dismissal.

But a lot of PPs are criticizing parents for picking up their kids in any fashion when the bus is available. Almost everyone at our school qualifies for the bus and yet the pick-up line is very long everyday. I guess all these kids and parents are jerks.

It’s not picking them up that OP is criticizing. The the arriving an HOUR prior to dismissal and just sitting there in the parking lot so your child can be one of the first out. Sorry but that is nutty. If you arrive 5 min after dismissal, you will have almost no wait time. Your kid can stand around for a few minutes. They will be fine and probably still get to practice on time

That may be true at your kid’s school but getting to my kid’s school five minutes after the bell means about a 20 min wait till you get back on the road. Your experience is not universal.

But 20 minutes is still better than 60 minutes so your argument is numerically illogical.

The point being arriving five minutes after dismissal at our school does not mean no wait time like the PP. It means a 20 minute wait which translates to being late for therapy. Getting to school early and waiting is a longer wait before dismissal but a short time (1 min?) getting on the road after. So 60 minutes (actually more like 45) plus getting to therapy on time is better than twenty minutes and missing half of therapy. Capisce?

Is your kid in daily therapy? Is everyone’s?