Grace and Peace

*If you are too shy/apathetic to ask for the password to see C's pictures, you can view a few of them here.  Although, honestly, if you tell me a bit about yourself and/or give me the link to your blog and/or send pictures, I'm pretty easy.*

Every Tuesday and Thursday morning, I wait for about 5 minutes in a line of cars in order to drop E and L off at preschool.  Each car pulls up to the main door and lets a kid or two out.  The kid is greeted by a teacher and ushered inside the school.  The car pulls away and the next one takes its place.  For parents who live within walking distance, they are allowed to walk to the door and their kid slips into the school between cars.  This is the drop-off policy as was explained in writing (several times) AND verbally at the beginning of the year.

EVERY SINGLE MORNING, there is one car that enters the parking lot the wrong way (it is a one-way deal), parks, and the mom walks her kid to the door COMPLETELY BYPASSING THE LINE OF A DOZEN OR MORE CARS THAT ARE PATIENTLY WAITING.  It infuriates me and I may be using excessive capitals when I talk about it.  What?  She's too impatient to wait?  She doesn't feel like it?  She shouldn't have to?  She's in a hurry?  WHATEVER.  You think the rest of us ENJOY WAITING IN LINE?

I could understand if it was an occasional thing.  You know, she's running late, she has to get to work/school/an appointment/whatever.  Sometimes you need to take shortcuts.  BUT IT'S EVERY SINGLE DAY.

There are some cars who are always ahead of me, first or second in line.  Those parents are dressed nicely and I am guessing they are headed to work.  They get to the school early enough to be in front of the line so they can get going.  THAT IS WHAT SHOULD BE DONE. 

SHE IS CUTTING IN LINE and I am thrown back to school age when those bigger, meaner, and more aggressive got their way simply by willingness to ignore rules and fairness.  It is rude.  The teachers have made the drop-off policy very clear and it is RUDE RUDE RUDE to disregard it for your own convenience.

So every morning I mutter, "Grace and peace to you," in order to help me let this go, keep my perspective, and have the right attitude toward this lady, but sometimes I find myself adding,". . . selfish bitch."

Comments

[Rachel]

I so desperately wish L's school had a drop-off process. We have to park, do the combination on the entry door (which I always forget), sign her in on the computer, and then take her in to her classroom. The teacher encourage the kids to "push their parents out". We stand at the classroom doorway and the kids give us a little shove out into the hallway. Keeps the transition short and tears turn to giggles.

BUT, every morning someone in a big honkin' SUV pulls right up to the front door, partially blocking the drive, to take her kids in the school. The rest of us use a parking space, so why should SHE think she deserves front door treatment? I'll remember your grace and peace moment. And pass it along to my hubby who gets irritated at the guy who leaves his car parked in the daycare parking lot all day and bikes to his office, thereby not paying a parking fee.

Maybe you've hit a nerve here??

[Murray]

YOU NEED TO SAY SOMETHING TO THE DIRECTOR OF THE SCHOOL!!! That is ridiculous and it would not fly at my pre-school. Granted, we can't drop off (lucky you, seriously) and have to get out with little ones and the pre-schooler, trek down the steps, through a door, up some steps and down the hall. Ugh. But our director has no qualms about sending home notes in CAPS regarding people that don't use the right door or park in the right place or come late, etc.

[Jessica]

Ooooohhh that is bad! Car line is sacred at M's school. So sacred that it was suggested that we auction off a "go to the front of car line for the year" pass at the school's annual year-end fundraiser. I would be furious if I were you too. I did wonder though, is there any possible reason the mom would have an exemption from car line?

The pictures and C are beautiful. I had the password to your photblog stored in my computer and it was recently wiped out, so I really appreciated the other link!

[Charlise]

The beauty of this not-following-the-rules thing? It continues through freaking high school. It doesn't matter if you are in Kansas or Texas...there are always people who think they are more important and don't have to follow the drop off or pick up rules. It drives me insane (ok, so it isn't a long trip) and I have actually gotten out of my car, tapped on their window, and said something to them - making my children die a little inside.

[Swistle]

It drives me so crazy when people think they're above the system: waiting is for the low people, not for THEM. I think I would have a quiet word with a teacher: the teachers should be noticing this and correcting her.

I'm emailing you about photo permission---I WAS too shy!

[liz s]

I'm with you!!!!!! Only at my school you only use the drop off if you aren't getting out of the car. If you are getting out of the car or the kids are very slow, then you park in the parking lot and help them out.

This kindergarden mom always stopped, gets out, walks the girl to the playgroung, kisses her a million times and then goes. It holds up the line and makes other kids tardy. ARG!

[Rach]

I am going to sound like a total alarmist - but I hear about something like this and all I can think of is, "It is that person's kid that is going to shove and bully my child, because they must get the message from their parent(s) that the rules don't apply to them." I really worry about what kinds of kids these people raise, and I feel like I have to be ever vigilant with my own kids about standing up for themselves (which is not my strongest point) because people are so incredibly self-centered and self-absorbed these days.

[maureen]

I hate people who think they are above the rules...and even worse are the ones at the doctor's office or at a restaurant who bitch about the wait being so long and then end up getting seen or sat right away.

[obabe]

there is someone like this at b's school. only she parks in front of everyone else, threby blocking the circular drive that should be left open for other cars to drive through (its a preschool in a jcc) and she ONLY takes one kid in- its not like she has her baby with her and doesnt want to walk far, etc. a friend of mine and i grumble CONSTANTLY about it. (and i only do dropff once a week. id be way more annoyed if i saw it every darn day)

[Susan]

We have that mom at Miss A's preschool as well. Only she PARKS her car in the drop-off lane while walking her child into the building.

I will be remembering to offer her grace and peace each morning from now on!

[Lil]

Ok--so now you have me all worried because, I bypasss the pickup line. Our dropoff is more of the park take your kid in variety, but pickup has the line o cars. But then everyone gets out of their cars anyway, gets their kid handed to them from the teacher then puts kid in the car. I always figured that i took so much extra time, that it would be kinder of me to park so as to not hold up that line. But who knows--MAYBE SOMEONE IS BLOGGING ABOUT WHAT A BITCH I AM!
(sorry about the all caps, I got a little worked up there) :)

[nikki]

My three year old's daycare/preschool is in the middle of down town and in order to park and walk them in you have to parallel (sp?) park. It galls me to no end when people purposely park and take up more than their fair share of parking space and not think of the other parents. Sometimes I have to drive around the block 3 or 4 times to find a spot. Growl.

[Sarah]

I always knew when my grandmother was annoyed because she would say "God bless XYZ" thorough bared teeth.

[JK]

At our preschool, we have a lot of different cultures..... One culture doesn't seem to understand LINES at all. If I'm first in line I can usually keep my spot, but if one of the other ladies, from the culture in question is in front of me, the other women feel it's perfectly acceptable to walk up and start chatting with the woman and to JOIN HER IN LINE.

In my culture, probably yours too, this is unacceptable. I wait my turn and it is WRONG for this to happen. I try to time my pick ups so I can just walk in right after the crowd has gotten in so I don't have to wait in line and lose my place. If I need to do a fast preschool pick up I get there really early to make sure I'm first in line.

Sigh.

[Jody]

GRRRRR.

I love your response, though.

[I never asked for the password because I've never set up such a system myself and it seemed selfish to take advantage of other people's generosity. I didn't want you to think I'm apathetic, since you must have noticed I'm definitely not shy!]

[Meira]

"Grace and Peace to you, selfish bitch."

Oh, that is just beautiful and perfect. I'd be tempted to think up ways to thwart her, myself. Maybe tomorrow you could park in such a way that blocks her in? Or blocks her from ???? I don't know, but the temptation is overwhelming!

[Shelley]

I'm sure she just feels her time is more important. At my sister's daycare, people are supposed to park in a parking space, not in front of the door. Well, no one followed that so they put orange cones with no parking on them in front of the door. Sooo people parked in front of those thereby making the road even more narrow and the people who followed the rules could not back out of the parking spaces. Argh! I have to hear her bitch about that every day.

[cass]

Ack - when my computer crashed and had to have everything reinstalled, I lost all of my saved passwords. Which I keep forgetting until I try to go someplace password protected and realize - hey, I used to have a password for that. Which is all to say that I would like the password (again) please! :)

[Amy]

I do car rider duty every single morning at my shcool, and every year we run into this problem with a parent or two. And every single year, I have to walk over to their car and tell them they have to get in line LIKE EVERYONE ELSE!

[melissa]

I'm requesting the password, since you made it sound so easy to do. :) And I think you rock and your family is really really cool.