Drop Off line Etiquette:
1. Please, please for the love of all things nice, think before you buckle! This one is super easy all you have to do is buckle your child on the passenger side of the back seat. When you do this it will allow your child to just unbuckle and jump out. This also eliminates you having to get out of your car.
2. Backpack in hand! Now that you have your sweet little one in the appropriate seat lets talk about backpack placement. You are only in the car for a hot minute from your home to the school so why make is so hard on yourself and put your child’s backpack in the TRUNK?? Come on folks just think about it, the backpack is in hand your child is ready to go and YOU DO NOT HAVE TO GET OUT OF THE CAR!
3. Practice the Jump and Close rule at home! Before heading off to school talk with little Johnny about how he will exit your vehicle by showing him the move called the jump and close. It’s a swift jump out of the car and a swipe of the arm to shut the door. It’s as simple as that!
4. Accept the Jump and Close! Here is where it may get a little tricky for you. Now is the time where you will have to accept the door closing which will then again NOT require YOU to exit your vehicle. You can now simply wave, smile and drive off into your day.
5. This may be a little harsh but Moms, Dads, grandparents who ever you are we are in October! Your child has been going to school for 3 months now and I promise they know the path from the car to the door of the school. Heck, it is only a few feet and you can still SEE them. It is time to let them walk to the door alone. That means without you. They can do it and I promise, you can too!
And, YOU DO NOT NEED TO GET OUT THE CAR.
And now for Pick up Line Etiquette:
6. There is a line and a process. We all know that your child is super special but news flash, ours is too. Please wait patiently in the line and know that we all have the same goal of picking up our children. The pick up line at school is not the place for your uncontrollable road rage. Save that for the highway please and wait patiently.
7. When in the pick up line please PAY ATTENTION to what is going on around you. Although we are now all waiting patiently we do not wish to wait an extra 5-10 minutes because of your phone obsession and the fact that you have lost all train of thought on where you are.
PAY ATTENTION!
8. If you are picking your child up at the door please, please get there a little early to be ready to grab your kiddo and go.
Again, we are all waiting for our children and every time you are late we wait!
9. Alright, here is the big one! BEFORE your child starts school TEACH them to BUCKLE themselves. Enough said so please just do it!
10. DO NOT GET OUT OF YOUR CAR!!!!
I hope this tidbit of information is helpful to you in your future drop off/pick up adventures!
Let’s all unite and make this world a better place one school day at a time!
YES.
Y’all know how I feel about this lol. Even though my kid is a bus rider now I still hate that Prius & feel a rage when I see it.
LOL Kaite! I think I know that Prius, lately it’s been an Escort. WHY does she put her kids backpacks in the trunk????? WHY??? Sad to say…she’s been honked at quite a few times in the last two weeks (no, it wasn’t me.)
Bwa-haha! TRUTH! And don’t forget to please not run over the teachers. And don’t park in front of parking space (perpendicular too them) keeping staff who have the last appointment of the day from getting to their appointment. Teachers do that mad dash so that YOUR CHILD has the BEST all day long instead of a sub who may or may not follow those lesson plans. So, please, let that teacher out to the doctor when it’s now eating up her family time because she really does care about your kid, k? K. Thanks! 😉
I came to the web looking for support on this topic and am so glad to have found it. I was behind a minivan today in the school drop off line. Van gets to the front of the line, mom puts it into park, all the doors open. Mom jumps out. (Immediately knew we would be here for a while). One kid (age 9) jumps out, gets her coat on on, mom puts her backpack on, hug and kisses her goodbye. Repeats entire process with second kid, age 7. Its November! Not the first day of school, and behind this van it is now gridlock while we are watching this entire routine unfold. Worst of all, it is one of my friends!!! I did not know she was one of “those parents”
Oh, I’m the mom there that goes nuts when I see…let’s just say it: idiots…dropping off or picking up their kids. Everyone else is sitting in the line patiently and the one jerk at the back will decide he HAS to pick up his child before everyone else and tries to bypass the line. Or the people who don’t use their signal when they’re getting back into our school’s “passing lane” (so you don’t have to wait for the person in front of you to finish before you move…I do love that feature at least!). Or the mom who decides that now is the right time to have a conversation with the other mom three cars in front of her about some party coming up, gets out of her car and proceeds to talk for five minutes while people are whipping around her, just about getting hit by the parents who aren’t using their signals to indicate that they’re getting back into the passing lane!!! Oh my gosh, I want to scream every time! I started telling my kids I’d pick them up down the road a little bit because being in the pick up line was getting too dangerous for everyone involved! I’d add that if you ARE one of those parents who has to get out of the car (you have a special needs child, or a child who hasn’t quite mastered the buckling themselves skill), you KNOW that in advance, so please be considerate and find a PARKING space, walk up to pick up your child and then buckle them in. There is no reason to make everyone else wait while you’re waiting at the door for little Johnny or Jane to finally make their grand exit from the school!
We have 6 intersections before we get to a spot where no one can cut in front of you. I drive all the way across town to get in the back of the pick up line, only to have 10 cars cut in front of me at those intersections. Why do they think that is okay. They don’t have to follow the times, but I do? No zipper here get in the back of the line