When did OP say this was for a pre-k or even a very young child? You might want to tone down the judgements.

Most local cab companies say they have a policy against transporting kids under 13 unless they are accompanied by an adult.

Anonymous wrote:eeewwwww. I can only imagine the high self-esteem of a child that arrives at school/activities in a cab when the rest of the cohort is dropped off by a family member or steady nanny. My god, where does the outsourcing of our parenting responsibilities end!
I'd just love to see 1) the therapy bills for these kids and 2) the lovely retirement facilities they find one day for these "loving" parents. Cats in the cradle anyone?

Oh c'mon. School buses were the norm when many of us grew up. And when/where they weren't most of us walked (without parents).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:eeewwwww. I can only imagine the high self-esteem of a child that arrives at school/activities in a cab when the rest of the cohort is dropped off by a family member or steady nanny. My god, where does the outsourcing of our parenting responsibilities end!
I'd just love to see 1) the therapy bills for these kids and 2) the lovely retirement facilities they find one day for these "loving" parents. Cats in the cradle anyone?

. I took a taxi to high school everyday. My parents expected me to walk, but it was a long walk and I had money from my movie theatre job. I would love such a service for my pre-k DD next year. It would buy me enough time to avoid aftercare everyday. How is that worse than a nanny?

Are you serious? You would put a pre-k aged daughter into a taxi to send her to school?!? What kind of a parent are you? You really cannot understand that putting a young child into a cab with a stranger driving her around completely unsupervised is outrageous. Do you not understand that a nanny theoretically would bond with the child and would, also presumably, have provided references from other parents who trusted her to look after their children. Honestly, no parent can be with their children 100% of the time, but it is part of parenting to use decent judgement regarding the people you allow to access your child. This is, at minimum a safety issue. I think if you don't understand that, it's not even worth discussing the general neglect and abject callousness of dumping your child onto a stranger. Good luck to your child.

Sometimes a reliable taxi driver will do it as a regular pickup. We have used for 2 years a woman who nannies for another family, but has time in the a.m. to make a run to a school - we pay an hourly rate plus mileage for her to use her car. You could advertise on DCUM, but you'd have to do a background check.

Check out the school policy before you do anything like that, OP. Some schools will not allow younger children to ride in a cab home.

I've seen children dropped off and picked up at our school in a Lincoln Town Car, though, which I find amusing and DH finds appalling.

Anonymous wrote:eeewwwww. I can only imagine the high self-esteem of a child that arrives at school/activities in a cab when the rest of the cohort is dropped off by a family member or steady nanny. My god, where does the outsourcing of our parenting responsibilities end!
I'd just love to see 1) the therapy bills for these kids and 2) the lovely retirement facilities they find one day for these "loving" parents. Cats in the cradle anyone?

. I took a taxi to high school everyday. My parents expected me to walk, but it was a long walk and I had money from my movie theatre job. I would love such a service for my pre-k DD next year. It would buy me enough time to avoid aftercare everyday. How is that worse than a nanny?

eeewwwww. I can only imagine the high self-esteem of a child that arrives at school/activities in a cab when the rest of the cohort is dropped off by a family member or steady nanny. My god, where does the outsourcing of our parenting responsibilities end!
I'd just love to see 1) the therapy bills for these kids and 2) the lovely retirement facilities they find one day for these "loving" parents. Cats in the cradle anyone?

We used to have an account at Barwood Taxi. My DC had to take a taxi to school on days that one of us was out of town because it was impossible for one parent to drive 2 kids to 2 different schools at the same time. This was for high school though so we were comfortable sending DC off in a taxi. With the account the tip was automatically added and charged directly to our credit card so DC did not have to deal with money.

I think I'd be uncomfortable using a regular sedan service for my child. I'm sure these types of companies don't have strict screening guidelines in place to protect children from predators.

I admit that I'm pretty paranoid in general but I don't even think I'd be comfortable with a service specifically for children that had screened drivers. Just the thought of my kid in the car alone with someone gives me the willies.

OP here, thanks for the replies. I know it would be pricy but it would be worth it for us. PP, if you could dig out that card or have the name of the sedan service i would appreciate it. Any idea what the hourly rate would be? or i wonder if we could just pay a flat rate per week?

thanks so much

It is totally the kind of service that keep families from going off the deep end. Unfortunately, I can only imagine that it is prohibitively expensive.

Yes this happens--I had to take a sedan service recently and the Driver told me that he regularly picks up kids from some of the area private schools (Mclean)..takes them to music lessons and then drives home. While I thought it was unusual, the more I thought about it, the more I could see it happening. If you are a working family and you want someone with professional driving credentials to take your child..seems to be a good route esp. if the kids are a little older and you have some comfort on background of the driver. I think this guy takes the same kids every week..ie it isn't a different person everytime. I liked him-I can dig out his card if you are interested.

You might want to look into having a college student do this. There are always college kids who need some extra money.

Has anyone ever heard of a private service that can drop off your child at a private school? I have seen companies in other cities that offer the service but not here. It would be from Gaithersburg to a school in Potomac. thanks