Dear Parents, Can We Please Do Better In The Pick Up Line?

I get not wanting to wait in line. I really do. I totally understand needing to be somewhere as soon as you pick up the kids. But can we please do better and not start lining up an hour before the bell rings?

The Story Of A Sick Kid And A Frustrated Dad

I had to pick one of our kids up from school the other day. They had gotten sick, and were dismissed from class. It was later in the afternoon, and I arrived a few minutes after 2 PM.

I was shocked. Pick up lanes, which of course are the ones closest to the door, were already filling up.

Why Not Park Farther From The Door Away From The Pick Up Lanes?

Because my kid is sick. Do I really feel like making them trudge across a parking lot? Most parents would want to get close to the door so they could get their sick kid, get them in the car, and then finally home as soon as possible.

Not play Lewis and Clark in the school parking lot. Don't get the reference? Look it up.

I'm At Fault Here Too

I went inside, waited for my child, and then went back outside. The lines were filling up even more and it's just a quarter after two, and now I have no way out.

I'm passive aggressive at times. It's a fault of mine that I've nursed into a hobby over the years.

I popped the vehicle in reverse, started backing out, and prayed the cars behind me moved. They did. Michael Keaton's character in Mr. Mom would be proud.

Then I drove in reverse down the lane to try and get to the entrance. I didn't care. I had to get my sick kid home. My plan was shot down as there was now a line forming behind me.

I shouldn't have done the whole drive in reverse thing. I just wanted to get my kid home as soon as possible.

We Can Do Better

I could have reacted better. Some of my quips, I had to explain to my child, were not funny and shouldn't be repeated. To the parents reading People Magazine, or Redbook, or whatever you read for an hour (at least) waiting for the bell to ring, give the rest of us a break.

At least my kid waited to get home before he spewed partially digested school lunch all over the place.

Thank God for small favors.