The School Run

We have survived one and a half months of the school run!! This is our last one before the holiday break begins.

In the United States, the school run involved driving through  a semi-circle and dropping off Sierra to one of the school's staff at 7:45 a.m. The United Kingdom is much different.  There is not drive through drop off.  Parents or carers are to walk children to their classroom door and pick them up.  You will not see a single school bus out in the morning because you will only be offered an opportunity ride on a bus if you live 3 miles or more from the school.  95% of the time the local education authority is able accommodate you at a school within 3 miles.  Otherwise, it is expected that you walk or drive your child to school.  School starts here at 8:55 a.m.  It is a blessing, but it also comes with its own challenges. Gates open at 8:40 a.m. and all kids must be to their classroom by 8:55 a.m.  So you have about a 15 minute window to get them to class before the doors close and you are sent to the office for a tardy slip.  Parents are fined (yes, fined as in you pay money) if you bring your child to school late too many times.

We live about 2 miles from Sierra's school which is a good distance for three children under the age of 6 to walk.  So we join the hundred or so other parents who drive to the school in the morning and park on the street.  

As you can see the street starts lining up 40-50 minutes before the bell.  We have to park our car on the curb in order to ensure that at least one vehicle can get by.  The side streets near the school are much worse.  People are parked on the curb on both sides of the street.  Most days we still have a quarter of mile walk to school, sun, rain, or snow.  You also have to plan to be outside for about 40 minutes each school run (morning and afternoon) to walk to and from your car and wait for your child.  This occurs no matter what the temperature or weather conditions. 3 degrees Celsius or blowing rain.  You walk, you wait, you walk some more.  Moms and dads, I know can appreciate that this also means two times a day this requires that you have rain gear and cold weather gear for 3 kids under the age of six. On cold days this means there are at least 12 articles of clothing (3 sets of mittens, hats, etc.) to keep track of and on rainy days about 15 things (including a stroller cover).

Most days this is a pretty daunting task and usually someone in our entourage is crying, but there is absolutely nothing like seeing your child run out the classroom door and give you a huge hug.  You also get the benefit of speaking with your child's teacher two times a day and two brisk walks for exercise. So one of these days all of us will find a way to make peace with "the school run."