Would you drop off or hang around?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hang around. What to do?
Take your laptop and do work, pay bills, online shopping, catch up with friends. Go for a walk, get coffee or lunch, take a nap in the car. We did not drop off our kids anywhere.

This does not take remotely 4 hours. I don’t sign my kids up for stuff an hour away. 30 minutes max.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hang around. What to do?
Take your laptop and do work, pay bills, online shopping, catch up with friends. Go for a walk, get coffee or lunch, take a nap in the car. We did not drop off our kids anywhere.

This does not take remotely 4 hours. I don’t sign my kids up for stuff an hour away. 30 minutes max.

I can easily spend 4 hours on just the first task, working on my laptop. I would think how much time you can spend on many of these activities would depend on the specifics of your situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I treat USA as the worst place to be a parent. Too many sexual predators around. Epstein files prove it. So, I am super vigilant about where my kids are (even when they were in HS) and who they hang out with etc.

No. I do not trust other parents, my neighbors, caregivers, any handyman who comes to my house, any coaches or any teachers etc. I will give a ride to other people's children, but my kids do not go with other adults except my DH, my parents, my brothers and my DH's sister. (My ILs are elderly, forgetful and careless.). I have personally seen many parents who are neglectful at best and dangerous at best when they are around other people's children.

I hope you are teaching your kids some independent life skills. Your level of angst may be giving them anxiety and make them codependent.

I understand being a protective parent but I’m not sure why you think the US is the only place where people prey on children.

[Anonymous]

You would save TWO HOURS of driving if you hung around. Surely there are plenty of things you could do from a coffee shop or your car?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry. We always stay and hang around. Yes, we find things to do etc, but there is no way we would leave our kids anywhere (except school).

How old are your kids?

[Anonymous]

OP here. I wound up deciding to stay, and I brought the dog with us. So while DD was doing her thing, I took the dog to a local college campus for a long walk and she had a great time. I also went and got coffee and a breakfast sandwich, and spent time putting around on my phone in the parked car while eating/drinking those.

Pretty rare unanimous DCUM consensus here!

[Anonymous]

I would stay, DD had an SAT test at a school 45 minutes away. I walked around the school for exercise, watched a volley ball tournament, read a book, and caught up with a friend on the phone. I was bummed no stores were around nor open early am.