Chauffeuring is Crappy

The first week of school is over halfway done, and I can certifiably confirm one thing.

Road rage. I haz it.



We live close enough to the school that the bus is not an option, but too far away to walk with four kids in tow (no. thanks!). And this year, with the new preschool hours, I have to make four - count 'em, FOUR - separate trips to the school and back everysingleday. In my suburban-mom-minivan that I swore I'd never drive. I should just paint the shit yellow and write "TAXI" on the side.

Pickup and drop-off is a nightmare. Yesterday afternoon I was blocked in for an extra ten minutes by a ridiculous jerk who decided to park crossways in the parking lot and then leave her vehicle (to fetch her kids who, by the looks of them, were in at least fourth or fifth grade and could have found her themselves). This morning, I was blocked into the drop-off lane by someone who, despite a huge expanse of lane in front of her, refused to pull up. I couldn't pull out of the lane because I couldn't get around her, and the car behind me was parked close enough that I worried about bumping them if I backed up (because remember when this happened?). She just ignored the honks, and the queue of outraged parents building up behind her while she sat there idling and did nothing.

People are idiots in the drop-off lane. They don't seem to get that the drop-off lane is for, oh, I don't know, maybe DROPPING OFF your kids. And that the parking lot is for, perhaps, PARKING. When someone parks in the drop-off lane, it's like the equivalent of being in a huge line at the grocery store checkout and saying, "Oops! I forgot a couple of things. I''ll be right back," and making the entire line wait.

Rude, rude, rude. And these people are supposed to be adults. And teaching their kids to be considerate of others. I mean, I may have road rage but at least I keep it civil in front of my kids. It pretty much goes like this:

Out loud: What is this car doing?
Silently to myself: OMG. Seriously, WTF? 
Out loud: Come on, pull up please!
Silently to myself: Ya effin' moron!
Out loud: I'm waiting back here!
Silently to myself: What are you, blind?!  

To date, no middle fingers have been displayed. I can't make any promises for the future. One day at a time, kids.

Otherwise, though, school is going well. So far. Colin is a third-grader, Cameron is in Kindergarten, and Coby started preschool (where, he promised, he is going to be "as good as a chair." Which I guess is pretty good since I've never actually known any troublemaking chairs). I'm pretty proud that I managed not to cry when Cameron started Kindergarten like I did when Colin started. It's been four days, and I haven't received any embarrassing phone calls from the school, so that's good.

Are your kids in school yet? How's your back-to-school coming along?


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