Crazy Morning

This morning was a bit crazy, I must say.  It started off normally enough.  Ace woke up as I was getting ready to go downstairs, so I got him up and fed him.  Tink came down to eat and got ready for school.  Since it’s Jimmy’s meeting day, I got the kids in the car to take TInk to school.  All was on schedule.  Then I found out one of the streets I take when going to the school was closed.  Usually they warn you for a whole week ahead of time.  Maybe we didn’t drive that way at all last week?  I thought we did, but it was vacation, and it all blurs together.  The alternate route was, of course, hectic.  It took about four lights to turn left to get back on track. 

When we got to the school, we had a couple of minutes before the five minute bell.  This would have been fine, except for the fact that half the school was waiting to get into the parking lot.  Now, a note here:  Tink is at the school on variance and therefore CANNOT ride a bus as no bus comes to our neighborhood.  The majority of the school can take the bus or walk.  Yet, there were about 20 cars when we got there (and 20 more when we left).  I know it was cold, but still, if I could put Tink on a bus or walk her, I would, even if it meant being in the cold for 10-15 minutes each morning.  So, most of the people who were drastically late had other options, but here we all were. 

When we finally got to the zone where you can drop off students, the five minute bell had rung.  A few kids were still getting out and I knew Tink could make her line before they got to her classroom, so I let her go,  mainly because there was not a single parking space to be had AND there were about 20 cars still waiting to get into the parking lot.  There were also about 10 cars trying to get out, but they couldn’t because they all wanted to turn left on the main street by the school and they weren’t willing to get out a different way and turn around.  I don’t really understand this as everyone was running late, and I would think they’d want to get a move on.  Even if they had all the time in the world, they could see that others were trying to get in so their kids wouldn’t miss a lot of class—couldn’t they have done something different so everyone else could drop off their kids?  The car in front of me chose to go a different route and turn around, and I went a different route back to the freeway.   But most of the cars just stayed there in their traffic jam.  I suspect some of them didn’t get out of the school lot until 20 minutes after school started.

So, after all this craziness, Ace and I get back to our neighborhood, only to see some more craziness.  It was 35 degrees outside, and there were children outside in short sleeves with no jacket.  Where are the parents?  Why are they letting the kids out like that?  One kid looked like he was in eleventh and twelfth grade—I can see where his parents might have let him have his way, though if he was my kid and I let him have his way in this, I’d make sure he understood that if his immunity was lowered and he caught a cold because of it, he would be paying any doctor’s fees or for any medicine he needed once he got sick.  Kids need to understand there are consequences.  But the 9-10 year old is young enough for his parents to be insisting “You will do as I say and wear a jacket until you are inside your school and if anyone tells me you did different, you are in big trouble!”  I hate seeing this because while I don’t know all of the particulars, I see so many examples these days of people who fail to parent their kids.  I don’t know if it is because they are trying to be their kids’ friends or what.  All I know is that I’m my kids’ parent first, and their friend second.  If I have to make them mad at me in order to keep them healthy or safe, then I do it.  So, my kids should be forewarned—they will be wearing jackets when it’s cold out for as long as I have a say in the matter, OR ELSE!!!!