10 things parents hate about the school run

Could there be anything more stressful to start your day than the dreaded school run? It’s no wonder that there are so many things parents hate about the school run. But now, worse than that, new research plastered over the media last week says that British parents spend nine weeks of their lives doing the school run. Gah! Somebody save us!!!!

Apparently over a third of mums and dads said dropping the kids off at school is the most stressful part of their day, according to the research published by SKODA. But if you think you’ve got it bad, spare a thought for the school-run faced by the Jones family from Pontrhydfendigaid, Wales, who have been in the news the last week because their school run is believed to be the UK’s most extreme!

Check this out folks – the family’s unpredictable journey can take anywhere from 25 minutes to two hours to complete – depending on weather conditions and cattle on the loose. NOOOOOOOOO! Worse yet, in some kind of cruel school run joke, the dad – as part of his school run duty – is regularly found with his chainsaw clearing away felled trees that block the family’s path to school. Holy moly!

So in solidarity for the woes of the Jones family, here’s a little tribute to them in a round up in no particular order of 10 things parents hate about the school run as contributed by some fab fellow parenting bloggers:

1. Getting out the door

Once you’re ready, it’s fine –  but getting everyone clothed, fed and in a coat is a huge battle. Having to repeat yourself over and over yet they still come down in a fancy dress costume of some sort!

2. Dog crap

When they manage to step in it/ride through it. Bleurghhh. Love dogs, but the owners who don’t clear up after them? Grrrr.

3. Rain

It always rains when you’ve left your coats at home! You arrive looking like drowned rats whilst everyone else looks smug/snug and dry! You also manage to fall in all of the sodding puddles on the way and get splashed by all the mahoosive cars! Failing that, it’s pretty much guaranteed to rain at that exact moment you leave the house to do the school run and then you have at child umbrella speed which is about 2-3 times slower than norma, so you either have to leave early or end up arriving late.

4. Smug & smirking parents

Being thirty seconds late, and the other parents pointedly looking at their watches and smirking.

5. Dodging cars

Dodging the cars that all turn into maniacs as they try and find car parking spaces down the road – some are parents and some are commuters who want to use the tube station!

6. Dragging feet

The combination of a toddler who drags along looking at every stick and leaf in great detail and the school child who zooms too far ahead on his scooter. You end up finding  yourself completely alone, at a loss as to weather to wait for the toddler (and risk the wraith of the parents the older child has nearly knocked over on his scooter) or try to catch up with the school child (and have another parent discover the toddler alone, eating leaves).

7. Looking like crap

Looking like a right lazy munter when all the other mothers have got a full face of make up on.

8. And other idiots

People cycling on the footpath when there’s clearly a bicycle lane, parents talking on their phone while they children linger way behind or WAY in front so much that they miss being run over at crossings. Parents blocking gates while talking in groups. The list goes on.

9. Epic meltdowns

The full on melt down  when you’re trying to get out the door and you’re  screeching at them to hurry up and, then trying to drag them all there usually with toothpaste down your chin and a pajama top on underneath the coat. The school run feels like it ages you by at least a year each day! 

10. Realizing you have forgotten XYZ at the school gates

You’ve battled to get there on the time, you are about to let out of a sigh of relief when no!!!!! you realise that thanks to your befuddled melted mum brain (or dad brain for that matter) you’ve forgotten their book bag/that it’s non uniform/bake sale/show and tell day ARGHHHHHHH!

What do you hate most about the school run? Do leave a comment and vent below! And for more school run musings check out this post on the different types of school parents you can expect on the dreaded school run.

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With huge thanks to the bloggers at Counting To Ten, Life Love & Dirty Dishes , Island Living 365, Hello Baby Blog, Yorkshire Wonders, Adventures of a Mum, Mummy is a Gadget Geek, Mumpreneaur Inspiration, Mumzilla, Jacintaz3, Man Vs Pink, Five Little Doves for their contributions to this collaborative post!

 

48 comments

  1. Ahh! I hate the school run for all the reasons you’ve mentioned!
    I am terrible for forgetting things. At least a couple of times a month I have to do an extra walk to school to take a forgotten PE kit or trombone. lol x

  2. Yep! I hate the school run! Hate hate hate it! In the morning I always try and sift through the tons of letters that they give out to make sure I haven’t forgotten anything – too many bloody things going on! Usually muttering to myself about being much more organised next time! Now I love people and see myself as quite a bubbly chatty person but for some reason I hate the thought of bumping into, and then having to walk with, all the others making their way to the dreaded gates! Pick up is worse as it’s manic! I just want to get the hell home! Kids are always far too hyper and want to play with EVERYONE as i’m trying to drag one out while holding onto a pram at the same time. All the small talk and feeling like having to wait on someone walking your way home aargh! hehe. In a weird way I will miss it though when they are older! So I keep telling myself that to get me through 🙂

  3. Yes I’ve seen the odd toddlers eating leaves etc! And that sinking feeling when you realise somethings been left behind. But guess what – I love it or I did … jo

  4. I honestly thought I was heading for the horrific school run today, the rain was pelting down and the wind was howling. The local road is shut and so we have to take a detour which I can only liken to driving off road through floods and you can imagine, getting to school is stressful alone.

    I parked up having arrived fairly early and turned around to see my little girl flat out asleep. I didn’t want to wake her and I didn’t wish to leave her in the car. I got the pram out of the car and put the rain cover on it then popped her in (still asleep) with no problems at all.

    I expected to get drenched but my lovely friend offered me her spare umbrella which she had brought for her child. I also expected my son to be late out of school as usual but today he was one of the first out.

    We managed to get to the car, get E back into her car seat and get home without waking her. I then popped her onto the sofa and she woke wondering why we were all home and she hadn’t left the house.

    LOL WIN never mind the bloody weather.

  5. I’m in camps 6 & 7. I loathe the school run and I’ve only been doing it for 2 months. Give me strength!

  6. I have a prac run tomorrow. My son starts here in Oz at the end of Jan, so he has an orientation day tomorrow. It will be a struggle. Give me strength. Do I really need makeup?? Stuff that! #coolmumclub

  7. I dont mind the school run too much as it means 6 hours of peace. I do however loathe the dillydallying before we leave the house, the last minute needing a poo and arguments of her bag being too heavy to carry!! Thanks for hosting #coolmumclub

  8. I actually don’t mind it too much. We live pretty much next door to school though so have an advantage! I try not to make eye contact with other parents. In, get all his morning work done, out!

    It does always rain though, what is that about? #coolmumclub

  9. Love this! You forgot number 11 though – your favourite song always comes on the radio just as you pull in and have to get out of the car. Always! So annoying! #coolmumclub

  10. I just can’t wait till this school runs are over!!:)) All of the above and maybe some (but I can’t think of any right now:))
    #coolmumclub

  11. I don’t have to do the school run yet but I already hate it, especially the crazy car drivers!! We are quite close to our local primary school, in fact everyone is, the village is tiny. But if I want to leave my house around drop off/pick up time, then heaven help me. Any glimmer of common sense, let alone road sense or basic safety is lost #coolmumclub

  12. If I was Mr & Mrs Jones I think I’d have to move lol. 2 hrs for the school run? That’s insane. I don’t actually mind the school run but only because the school is a stones throw away. It’s directly in front of my house and I can do the school run in six minutes flat. I leave at the very last minute and still make it in time (hope I’m not coming across too smug 😉 ).

    (Unhinged mummy stopping by from #coolmumclub). Thanks for hosting.

  13. YEEEES! I love this post. I might just pin it inside my car to remind myself that I am not alone! I also hate doing the school run when you have another poorly child, that’s me today. Flu filled school run here we come. Whoop. #Coolmumclub

  14. Hahahah… love the way you’ve described point number 6…that’s epic, really!
    And I am so point number 7 (looking like crap) and point number 9 (pj under the coat)!!!
    #coolmumclub

  15. Oh goodness, I’m not looking forward to when my LO starts school. The nursery run is already stressful enough and the dramas bring to mind bedtime dramas and how exhausted I feel after that… This is why tea and coffee were invented. And chocolate. #CoolMumClub

  16. 9 weeks?! Jeez. Is it too late to consider home schooling?! I have all this to look forward to. The nursery run can be hair-raising enough and they forgive you if you are a few minutes late! I’ll need to up my game ready for next September! #coolmumclub

  17. Being late is horrible. It happens more than I would like for many of the reasons stated. Having to frog march a complaining child for what should be a 15 minute walk in less then ten is not fun.

  18. Oh no this will be me soon and I’m dreading it! I hate it when dog owners don’t pick up there poo. I’ve noticed a huge increase in it lately. I already forget everything when we leave the house and currently it isn’t that important… Must get better!
    #coolmumclub

  19. My little one is pre school age yet but my goodness I’m already not looking forward to school runs. The weather is definitely the biggest factor for me. It just sets my mood! #coolmumclub

  20. Oh I LOVE this! This pretty much sums up my mornings! I HATE the dog poo thing – trying to scrape poo out of the tread of little shoes or pram wheels is disgusting! I also find myself in the fast-scooter-vs-slow-toddler scenario pretty much every day! #CoolMumClub

  21. yep- sucky part of the day for sure. We do a carline so I basically shove the kids out of the door while barely stopping. My issue is we love twenty seconds from school- but with two tiny twins and two mopey tired school aged kids I do drive in the rainy or cold weather- so it takes an hour to get in the car- twenty seconds to drop off and another hour to get back OUT of the car- every single damn day!

    #coolmumsclub

  22. Oooh this is sending shivers down my spine. One of the absolute joys of having teens is that I don’t have to do the school run anymore. I totally hated it and particularly the unecessary chat at the school gate first thing in the morning. Hate mornings with a passion, don’t want conversation just to get rid of my kids was where I was at. I do however still get the odd panicked phone call to bring in a forgotten book or piece of kit. #coolmumclub

  23. I always forget the library book. Or the water bottle. Or the fact that it’s PE and her hair must be properly tied back. I have been known to keep my two little ones in their pyjamas and just stick them in the buggy. And I’ve only been doing it for 2 months… #coolmumclub

  24. So Much to look forward to, plenty of time to practice! I’m normally the one inside the school on the receiving end of the school run, I don’t think anyone enjoys it, not even the kids!
    #coolmumclub

  25. My most current hate about the school run is that however much effort you’ve put in to looking half decent in the morning is a TOTAL WASTE OF TIME! Wind, rain, damp, humid, warm, freezing – it does crazy things to my hair and I end up looking like I’ve been dragged through a hedge backwards for the rest of the day!
    Enjoy your Thursday #coolmumclubbing lovely! x

  26. Ohh the school run! I’m relatively new to this exciting part of the day. My daughter started school in September. The dog poo thing is def an issue and getting out the door is a military operation. I take my friends child to school too and the other day we had tears over who got to be the front part of the train!?! Why don’t you have two trains I asked. NOOOOO! thats not right they replied. Oh well I tried.
    The joys hey.
    #coolmumclub

  27. I have yet to “do” a school run as my eldest won’t start until September, but we already have a nursery run. My most recent (yesterday) was accompanied by my youngest one screeching at the top of his lungs in a hysterical state the entire way there. Because shoes. Because he wanted to put his own shoes on, but he is 26 months old and spent 25 minutes wiggling his toes about dangerously close to a shoe before I misplaced my poop and dragged it off him stuffing his feet in like a woman possessed. It was traumatic. I am not looking forward to several years of these bad boys! 😉 Thanks for hosting #coolmumclub

  28. Oh wow… this does not make me look forward do to sending my LO to school one day. It will be here sooner than I think and I know I am going to hate it already! Just registering with a school is stressful enough.lol! #coolmumclub

  29. I honestly loved this and howled at parts of it. Blimey number 4. Seriously? People actually behave like that? What’s their problem? On a serious note, you have made me thank my lucky stars we don’t have any of this (bar the first and last ones obvi) because of the particular school we’re at. The Maltese schools are more like this but even though they’re a third of the price or free, I think we’ll just stay we where are, continue to live on bread and water because of the fees but at least have fairly stress-free school runs that are completed within 10 minutes! #coolmumclub

  30. Agree with every single one of these. How is it that when you tell a child you are running late and they need to get a move on they go slower than ever?!
    #Coolmumclub

  31. Ah dog crap!!!! It’s like the Olympics trying to dodge it and I’m sure its the same dogs making the mess.
    We don’t yet have the school run but the nursery run with two is sometimes a challenge. Thank goodness Toddler Munch has stopped taking off her shoes during the buggy walk so I don’t have to walk back and look for them…#fortheloveofBLOG

  32. I don’t mind the school run but I’m lucky to live very close to the school so it takes less than 5 minutes. I have been known to forget things and have to run back though, but I can’t really complain. A school run of 25minutes – 2 hours sounds horrendous though! #coolmumclub

  33. Haha, yes when they come downstairs wearing a fancy dress costume and you should have left 5 mins ago! As for the full face of makeup – no time for that in the morning! Thanks for hosting #coolmumclub

  34. Oh wow, this sounds…fun?! Is it ok for me to feel quite pleased that I will probably never do a school run as I will be at work so it will be Daddy’s/childminder’s job….#coolmumclub

  35. […] 10 Things Parents Hate about the School Run […]

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