Anonymous
Post 01/22/2026 05:35     Subject: Elementary drop off and working parents
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:In our district school (elementary) starts at 8:20 (doors open/bus arrives at 8:00) so I put dc on bus at 7:40 and get to work by 8:05. Dh is not involved at all in the morning routine; he starts work at 6. But then he is able to meet the bus. So I guess our answer is to stagger schedules.


This would be my ideal schedule, our ES doesn't start until 930, with 9am bus pickup. So beforecare it is, we stagger schedules but meetings may start at 9 or 930 so doesn't work to not start the commute until then.


That is crazy late. Is this some sort of Montessori with lots of rich SAHMs/"retired" dads?

Our kid's school starts at 8:30am. Drop him off at the drive-thru at 815am and he hangs out with other kids in the gym. Can drop off as early as 730am if you pay for before-care.

930am is just really weird.
Anonymous
Post 01/22/2026 04:39     Subject: Elementary drop off and working parents
OP this is what sucks about RTO. Workplace flexibility was a huge boon. Of course more people blame the individual (shouldn't have had kids, not your employers problem, stick them in before and after care for hours on end) and that's why there has been no resistance as those perks were taken away.
Anonymous
Post 01/22/2026 04:28     Subject: Re:Elementary drop off and working parents
Au pair
Anonymous
Post 01/22/2026 04:23     Subject: Elementary drop off and working parents
Anonymous wrote:In our district school (elementary) starts at 8:20 (doors open/bus arrives at 8:00) so I put dc on bus at 7:40 and get to work by 8:05. Dh is not involved at all in the morning routine; he starts work at 6. But then he is able to meet the bus. So I guess our answer is to stagger schedules.


This would be my ideal schedule, our ES doesn't start until 930, with 9am bus pickup. So beforecare it is, we stagger schedules but meetings may start at 9 or 930 so doesn't work to not start the commute until then.
Anonymous
Post 01/22/2026 04:16     Subject: Elementary drop off and working parents
In our district school (elementary) starts at 8:20 (doors open/bus arrives at 8:00) so I put dc on bus at 7:40 and get to work by 8:05. Dh is not involved at all in the morning routine; he starts work at 6. But then he is able to meet the bus. So I guess our answer is to stagger schedules.
Anonymous
Post 01/22/2026 03:29     Subject: Elementary drop off and working parents
Anonymous wrote:This is why you think before you bring a kid into this world.

Women should stop having kids til the dumb shits leave office.

It is only going to get worse for working mothers.




Let's blame women for what Trump is doing, g reat idea
Anonymous
Post 01/22/2026 03:01     Subject: Elementary drop off and working parents
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:We use beforecare and if our kid finds it boring she deals with that.


Sure, but there are like 15 families in our 700 student elementary using before care — what are they all doing?


Ours has a lot more, some days might even be full. Maybe your ES doesn't have as many dual-working parents?

I do wish ES started earlier so that we could just use afterncare instead of both, my kids are always up super early anyway. My sister teaches at a district in MA where the schedule is the opposite- ES kids go first, then MS and HS. But that wil never happen here so just accept it and move on.
Anonymous
Post 01/22/2026 00:53     Subject: Elementary drop off and working parents
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:what happened to latch key kids? I was on my own to and from school starting in 2nd grade.


Thats how you get CPS called on you.

We tried to get our DS to walk home in 2nd and school policy was too young. Really only 5th grade get to.

We don’t like them walking alone in morning because drivers are rushing to drop off and getting to work. When we were kids far fewer parents were driving their kids to school and most moms weren’t driving to work. On top of that, we have WAY more rushing delivery drivers at all hours.


Second grade is WAY too young! And I’m a fan of “scaffolding parenting.” But that’s insane.


So you are 5th grade proponents?
Anonymous
Post 01/22/2026 00:53     Subject: Elementary drop off and working parents
Anonymous wrote:[b]
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:How much is before care? We only need 30 minutes of aftercare 3x a week and it's $400 a month for the county aftercare. Just another reason parents are broke.
But it’s extremely reliable. If it’s in your kid’s school you don’t have to worry about someone else transporting them. It’s all there in the same building. Use as much or as little as needed from week to week. It’s your spot. The make seemingly lifetime friends with the other playmates there. They work late and early and used to include snow days and teacher workdays. We never needed to search on care.com. The before care and after care was a given. Yes, it’s money out, but it was perfect coverage in the long run. Just pay it for elementary and keep the kids safe. Middle school starts a different era.


+1

OP, are you posting from 2022? Have you never paid for child care? In-school before and after care is still way cheaper than daycare!


I am not complaining about the cost of before care. Im saying there are very few students, and its a depressing scene. Kids warehoused in a multipurpose room for 2 hours at tables. They cant use playground, because staff need to stay onsite as kids trickle in all morning (vs aftercare where kids all arrive at same time and can be managed more easily).
Anonymous
Post 01/21/2026 23:22     Subject: Elementary drop off and working parents
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:what happened to latch key kids? I was on my own to and from school starting in 2nd grade.


Thats how you get CPS called on you.

We tried to get our DS to walk home in 2nd and school policy was too young. Really only 5th grade get to.

We don’t like them walking alone in morning because drivers are rushing to drop off and getting to work. When we were kids far fewer parents were driving their kids to school and most moms weren’t driving to work. On top of that, we have WAY more rushing delivery drivers at all hours.


Second grade is WAY too young! And I’m a fan of “scaffolding parenting.” But that’s insane.
Anonymous
Post 01/21/2026 23:19     Subject: Elementary drop off and working parents
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:How much is before care? We only need 30 minutes of aftercare 3x a week and it's $400 a month for the county aftercare. Just another reason parents are broke.
But it’s extremely reliable. If it’s in your kid’s school you don’t have to worry about someone else transporting them. It’s all there in the same building. Use as much or as little as needed from week to week. It’s your spot. The make seemingly lifetime friends with the other playmates there. They work late and early and used to include snow days and teacher workdays. We never needed to search on care.com. The before care and after care was a given. Yes, it’s money out, but it was perfect coverage in the long run. Just pay it for elementary and keep the kids safe. Middle school starts a different era.


2 kids. $400 before care and $400 aftercare= $3200 a month. That's insane. I'm glad others can just pay for it.


($400+$400)*2 = $1600

Also, is it really $400 for both before and aftercare? At our school in Arlington it's $253 for mornings and $374 for afternoons if you are full price. That's $627 x 2 kids = $1254. It's still a lot of money, but a lot less than $3200 and definitely less than you were paying for daycare before the kid entered kindergarten.


My kid is full pay at SACC in Fairfax County and it’s $700/month for morning and afternoon during the school year. Oh, and I’m a single mom with sole custody. So yawn at the whining here.
Anonymous
Post 01/21/2026 23:16     Subject: Elementary drop off and working parents
You need to change schools
Anonymous
Post 01/21/2026 23:14     Subject: Elementary drop off and working parents
[b]
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:How much is before care? We only need 30 minutes of aftercare 3x a week and it's $400 a month for the county aftercare. Just another reason parents are broke.
But it’s extremely reliable. If it’s in your kid’s school you don’t have to worry about someone else transporting them. It’s all there in the same building. Use as much or as little as needed from week to week. It’s your spot. The make seemingly lifetime friends with the other playmates there. They work late and early and used to include snow days and teacher workdays. We never needed to search on care.com. The before care and after care was a given. Yes, it’s money out, but it was perfect coverage in the long run. Just pay it for elementary and keep the kids safe. Middle school starts a different era.


+1

OP, are you posting from 2022? Have you never paid for child care? In-school before and after care is still way cheaper than daycare!
Anonymous
Post 01/21/2026 23:06     Subject: Re:Elementary drop off and working parents
I see a lot of ads online from parents seeking a Nanny to stay w/their child(ren) in the morning, then drop them off at school.

So I am guessing that many parents rely on Nannies to assist them in the mornings.
Anonymous
Post 01/21/2026 22:47     Subject: Elementary drop off and working parents
Short commute here and flexible job. At work 9 or shortly after, and don’t take a lunch break. We do use aftercare though