Stick It In A Bottle

I know what you were about to say. You were about to say, "Really? You don't look a day over 39!"

And I would swat you playfully with a ham sandwich and confess that I am actually four days over 39 and you would look covertly at the laugh lines that are taking over my face in much the same way ice cracks on a river and think, "Honey, I was being polite."

This is why we are such good friends.

Halloween.

Caroline was a cheetah. Edward was a football player. I asked if he wanted to bring his little Nerf football with him for the Halloween preschool parade and he said no, he wanted to bring the bulldozer transporter. This is an unusual prop within the football context and his masquerade was further complicated by the fact that Edward, when asked, would say he was dressed as a panda bear.

Ummm, ok, Edward.

(My heart is broken by the difficult lighting in our back hall; please pretend the glare is extra goodness.)

And they were excited, my god. Caroline spent the entire drive to school talking about how much fun it was going to be and the parade and the costumes and Edward practiced growling. You know, like a panda bear. When we arrived in the classroom 100 percent of the children were in costume and 95 percent of them were in hysterics. Caroline took one look at the sea of weeping princesses and opened her mouth and HOWLED. Edward - who is skeptical about the advisibility of my leaving him at school on the best of days - twisted himself around my legs like a python and refused to release me so I had to shuffle towards the cubbies three inches at a time. Caroline followed, wailing, "I feel very sad! I am upset; I am more than upset! This is terrible! I should go home! I feel worried and angry!"

Edward tried to burrow into my sock.

I crammed their coats and nap mats and lunches and backpacks into place as quickly as I could while I kept up a running monologue about how FUN it all was going to be. Then I gave them each a firm kiss, promised to pick them up later and I bolted for the door.

I am pretty sure that I would have worried about preschool Patrick all day long after such a weepy, clingy start but the nice thing about... age? more children? experience? Celexa?... is that I did not. I thought, holy cats, those poor teachers are going to have a hell of a day with all those strung-out toddlers and I hummed as I drove away

Patrick was a spacetime portal. I originally asked if he was a portal through time or space and he gave me the look that Oxford dons used to reserve for the more feebleminded of legacy scholars and asked as sarcastically as one can address one's sainted mother how I proposed a person could travel through space without also travelling through time or - more laughably still - was I suggesting time travel could bypass space altogether?  

As a nod to the whimsy of the occasion he also wore socks that matched each other. Oh TEE HEE HEE.

Then we went trick-or-treating in the village and Caroline was brilliant with her perfectly timed 'Trick or Treat's and breathy 'Oh THANK you's. Edward was a little confused by the fact that people would open their front doors but we weren't supposed to go into their houses and at one point he saw the football game and barrelled past the offered candy bowl to sit down in front of their television. You could tell Steve wanted to do the same thing. Patrick kept asking me about the legality of what we were doing - going to people's houses, trespassing on their walks, demanding candy... he thought it was a grey area at best

Parking lots.

Steve says I am not allowed to talk about this any more but I am perseverating about parking lots.

1. Patrick's school was built in the days when children walked to school on their own two feet, probably uphill both ways. The end. The original parking lot was designed to hold six Edsels. To accomodate the modern commuter child another parking lot was carved out at some point and then a side lot was put in and the result is that there is just enough room now to get the school busses in and out and the car children dropped off in an orderly fashion provided everyone is patient and takes their turn.

Unfortunately many of my fellow parents seem to think that they need to drop off/pick up their child from school right away and that the rest of us chumps are waiting in line... why? Who knows. The point is that they drive in the opposite direction from the yellow arrows. They double park. They stop mid-traffic and get out to open the minivan door. They ignore the valiant fifth grade crossing guards who wave like to crazy to direct them to just move it along, putting up a finger like, "Oh, just a moment, I'm just trying to get my child into school" as if the twenty cars beind them have pulled into the parking lot by mistake or something.

It drives me crazy and, really, won't somebody think of the children because someone is going to get hit one day with all these cars going in all these different directions.

2. Preschool. Oh god the preschool parking lot. When I can, I try to park close to the door in a spot that abuts the sidewalk because Caroline and Edward are like squirrels and no matter how many times I have told them they need to stand RIGHT THERE while I get the other one out of their car seat the moment either of them are able to wiggle free they leap from the car and bound into traffic. Last week I couldn't get a good spot because a woman was pulled horizontally across three spaces while she waited for her husband to unload their son and escort him into school. Two parents, one child, three parking spaces.

So yesterday I was behind someone as we were both pulling in and I was pleased to see that there were a couple of free spaces adjacent to the walkway and close to the front door. Score! The woman in front of me pulled in and I started to pull in next to her only to discover she had parked two and a half feet over the line - there were two free spaces and she had taken both of them.

I was annoyed. SO annoyed in fact that I did what I do not think I have ever done in the history of my life and I sat there, paused in the turn that I was unable to complete and I rolled my window down and I waited. I waited because I thought once she opened her door and realized that she was five feet from anything she would turn to me and say "Oh I am so sorry!" and then I could say, "Oh don't worry about" and my passive-aggressive moment would pass. Instead I sat there and watched her use the rearview mirror to reapply hair spray (I wish you could taste my scorn - it's delicious) and when she finally opened her door and saw me half-parked behind her she said, defensively, "He had his door open." Meaning that rather than wait a minute for the car next to her to get his child out she decided to take up two spaces and use that extra sixty seconds to do her hair.

I rolled my eyes at her and I meant it to sting, damn it.

Five minutes later I accidentally opened the door to the school at the exact moment Caroline was taking a step forward and her forehead hit the edge hard enough that she flew backwards. Within sixty seconds (during which time Mrs Aquanet-TwoSpace walked around me and my spilled tote bag and Edward wrapped around my head like a balaklava and sobbing Caroline and shut the door behind her - we might become enemies) Caroline had a lump on her head the size of a kiwi with a nasty blueblack ridge down the front of it. A teacher got her an icepack and the director came to give her opinion on what we should do. At first Caroline just cried but eventually she rallied and went limp in my arms, fluttering her eyelashes and doing this fake hiccup sob she likes to do. I knew she was starting to feel better since she was attempting a death bed scene. She was painting by the time I left the classroom but I still felt vaguely guilty all day - like my desire to hex the parking lot woman rebounded on me and whacked poor little Caroline in the head. 

Why, yes, I did go off the Paxil. Why do you ask?

My doctor didn't mention anything about withdrawl side effects (and it's possible that he wasn't expecting any - either because I was only on it for a month or because I immediately started Celexa) so I was especially grateful for your cautionary comments and was alert for any weirdness. It was actually fine. I might have been a little crabbier for a week or so (see: parking lots and the yobnuts who infest them) but I am feeling MUCH better now. Not the least bit sleepy and I didn't turn a hair when my brithday dinner plans got waylaid and my friend suggested we bring the children to her babysitter across town and just wing it. Wing it! Me! The idea of packing the kids up at night and leaving them with a stranger no matter how warmly recommended would definitely be enough to generally spin me into a tizzy but it was no big deal. They all had a good time and when we went to pick them up Edward was asleep, Caroline was chatty and Patrick was zen.

I have my appointment this afternoon with my new Someone and I am excited to get started on some behavioral stuff and see what she thinks about the Celexa. Hot cha cha.

Two more: 

PS Seriously. I try to be understanding. Really I do. I try to be patient. I always tell Patrick that it doesn't matter what other people are doing, all that matters is that your own behavior is appropriate. But in a situation (like a hypothetical school parking lot) when you know that every person there is trying to accomplish the same goal as you are WHY are people so pushy and selfish and annoying? WHYYYYYY? This one woman (who has a very very very sweet child in Patrick's class by the way) drives through the parking lot the wrong way EVERY SINGLE DAY. 

Explain it to me. Or condole with me by telling me about the self-centered strangers in your day.

PPS Our internet modem died a horrible death and the soulless zombies at hughesnet (hate them) are not able to get us a new one for another week. So if you attempt to communicate with me using anything other than pigeon for the next seven days I will be unable to respond.

Comments

[Karen O]

Celexa. While I was on it, I was SO not interested in my husband.
At all.
(Reading between the lines is needed here because I'm not going into any more detail.)
Switching to Lexapro made all the difference!

[Name Withheld to Protect the Innocent]

I work in a very large building with about 4,500 other people. There is parking for about 1,800 of us (and little-to-no access to public transport). My guess is that 3,786 of my coworkers dressed as Solipsism for Halloween. Thus goes our parking situation, anyway.

The worst self-centered story I have, though, originates from a birthday party invite my son recently received. I e-mailed the acceptance, noting how much my son looks forward to the event and asking if the birthday child still likes a certain toy he is known to have enjoyed in the past. The response? "Yes, but we're not happy about it. If you get him one please include a gift receipt so it can be returned before he opens the package." There are LAYERS to this one, no?

[Another Joan]

EXactly the same issue with our local elementary school to which our children (now 25 & 28) walked by themselves from Kindergarten on. I have moved up my drive to work by 25 minutes to miss the eejits who think their child(ren) is/are the only important one in the world. I really wonder what type of behaviour is bein modelled, what type of citizen in the wider world is being raised.

[Anne]

The parking lot frenzy can be parsimoniously explained by the fact that whenever resources are scarse, people (for the most part) become more self-centered (or assholish, depending on how you're feeling in the parking lot that day). Ugly underbelly of human nature, but true. Why do you think illegal immigration is all-of-a-sudden a big thing again in this election?

[anon]

Well, my nose is runny from laughing so hard that I started crying. I am glad to be alive because I was eating as I read this post and could have choked and died from the LOLs. Thank you for making my day.

I don't think I can beat Ms. Aquanet Twospot. However, this wknd as I was standing with my daughter and her friends trying to figure out the complicated Trick or Treat arrangements for tweens, a mom inserted her opinion that it was completely rude that HER daughter was not included in the invite that MY daughter received for a TorT event in another girl's neighborhood. ahem. It was, in fact rude. But this mom is also the one who excluded me from her own party last year. So I was having a hard time feeling the pity. Yes I was.

[Cris]

I hate the pickup / dropoff at school. Hate it. I've always thought that how you act when you drive (or park) - when you think you are anonymous - indicates who you really are as a person.

My son's speech therapy, provided by Children's Memorial, is located in an offshoot location on the first floor of a high rise office building. There are huge parking lots, but also three spaces located right in front that are very clearly marked as reserved for families going to Children's Memorial. Every few weeks we are getting in or out of the car and see someone pull into one of the spaces that clearly doesn't belong there (mostly middle aged white guys in sports cars with no car seats or children in the car). I just stand there and very obviously stare at them while holding my child. I'll even walk over to their car if they are pretending to ignore us. It never fails to make them pull out and go around to the regular short term visitor spots that are RIGHT NEXT to the disabled kid parking.

Can they really think that not arriving late to their business meeting is more important than getting struggling moms and kids parked closer to where their medical needs are met?

[Kate (Bee In The Bonnet)]

I was reading through my blog archives the other day, wondering what was going on in my life around this time last year (I mean, I knew what was going on this time last year- I was finding out that both embryos had indeed stuck around long enough to implant-, but I was looking more at the specifics: ultrasound this day, evil PIO shots stopped on that, etc., etc.).

Anyhow, some time in early December, so, like, 12-ish weeks pregnant with the Sparks?, I wrote a sarcastic 1500 word diatribe about lines painted on pavement and what we in civilized culture use them for. It featured moments much like you describe, wherin I worry about the state of the world when people are either too selfish or too blind or too stupid to keep their vehicle between the lines (when parking OR driving, or making left turns, etc.). It was classicprogesterone-poisoned writing at it's best.

Anyhow, having followed your blog for a while, I won't ask the dumb question about whether you are gestating again and/or recreationally using progesterone supplements for any reason, and instead say that one of the pregnancy side effects that surprised me was an uptick in my general anxiety level, and so it may be that (in spite of the fact that you are OH, SO RIGHT about the parking douchery) the adjustment to the new meds is allowing more of those frustrated moments to see the light of day.

But generally, I don't think it's a huge problem to share one's frustrations with an evil glare towards the douches of the world. In fact, I kind of want to cheer you on, because that woman HAS to have known what an incredibly assmunch-ish thing that was to do, and the jerks of the world need to be called out on their jerkishness more often.

[ali]

Julia you write beautifully and make me laugh!

My disdain for self centred behaviour is for high school students (I'm a guidance counsellor - and we spell it with a double l in Canada)who walk away from the remains of their lunches when they're done eating. Sometimes within two feet of a garbage can!

That, another Joan, is the type of citizen being raised by the parents who drive the wrong way through the drop off zone.

[LMM]

Hee - Lucy did the same thing. Walked right into two houses while trick or treating and made herself at home. Because, what person wouldn't want to hang out with Lucy for a while?!? Clearly they were just starved for her company.

[Maggie]

Wow they are all gorgeous!

Now I'm freaking out about my decision to (try to) send the girls to a non-neighborhood school. I love everything about it except we'll have to drive (15 minutes) to it. I've convinced myself that that is not a big enough negative to avoid it, but now I'm not so sure....

Perhaps Edwards is a secret SF Giants fan, and only has the sport confused - should be baseball instead of football, but we've got our Panda!

[Jan]

I go especially nuts at the supermarket with the people who seem oblivious to the world around them, who stop their cart in the middle of the aisle so you can't pass, who cut in front of you at the self-checkout line, who don't take their carts back to cart area, but leave on the sidewalk, or even better, by their car, where it is ready to roll into yours. And the driving, my god, the lost art of the turn signal. So, not to get greedy or pushy, but what happened with the Halloween party??????? Please tell when the seven magical (magicless?) days are up.

[susan]

Don't you love people who think the world should adjust to them and the rules don't apply to their particular situation?

You should complain loudly and bitterly to the school. They need to address the parking lot, with someone out there. We have aides who actually open the doors and get the kids out. I wouldnt drop this since its a safety issue. Tell the principal you want to look at the school safety plan. There should be one, this can open up the conversation.
You, by the way, are a riot, medicated or not!

[Liz]

Ahhh parking lot issues. Our daycare center has a large parking lot (it's at a church). While I do have a few choice spots I try to be easy going about it. EXCEPT for the family that drives around the cones that are in place to keep CARS out of a certain area. They even get out of their car to move the cones so they can drive in the driveway. If both losers I mean parents are there at pick up one stays in the car while the other goes to get their child. Every other parent is gripping their child's hand tightly as they walk through what is now an active driving zone when it shouldn't be. I roll my eyes every time this happens. Why are they so special? Time for an email to the director I suppose.

My son entered the first house we got to while trick or treating...he took his candy, said thank you and walked right on in. Thank goodness they were nice. As wast he family who had a sign in the front yard pointing everyone to the garage for candy and a Giants game viewing. (and in approximately 10 minutes all hell will break lose in SF if it already hasn't. I do hope the rest of the country realizes that CA isn't really all that crazy).

[jen w]

We have the parking lot issue here. There is a line and we inch up to eventually drop our kids at the sidewalk so they can walk inside. Every day, there are those people who feel they can cut into the line somewhere. Can't they see the rest of the cars just waiting?? ugh!

[Katie]

You have described precisely why my former educational philosophy (be who you want to be learn what you want to learn loosey goosey) has abruptly changed to ...give me RULES. LOTS AND LOTS of RULES. Harp on them endlessly. Send home newsletters about them weekly, and enforce them zealously. Our school dropoff (also somewhat landlocked and parking challenged) has cones, arrows, time limits, written regulations governing the whos whats and wheres of dropoff, and a feisty gym teacher who stands out there every morning with his coffee mug overseeing the whole process and I ADORE it.

[Brandi]

I'm with Susan. This is a saftey issue and the school needs to get someone other than 5th graders out there directing traffic. Perhaps a police car parked across where ever it is the people driving the wrong way come in? I remember a police officer hanging around making sure there was no dangerous rudeness going on when people were dropping off their kids when I was going to school. I'd call the principal. But I get fired up about stuff like this so YMMV.

[Sara]

My sons school has the same parking lot problem (as in there is just enough spots for teachers/helpers to park). They also have the one way signs but the bus has a hard time getting in if anyone is actually dropping their kids off. Luckily there is a church across the street that allows the school to use the parking lot for drop offs/pick ups. In the morning there is safety patrol helping kids cross the road (along with an adult helper) and then in the afternoon the teachers walk everyone across as one big group (the bus kids get on the bus next to the school of course). And they walk them back if a parent isn't there to pick up. Does your school have any options like this? It works out well (the only issue I've had that if it snows a lot overnight I have trouble getting my low car into the parking lot but that has only happened once or twice-I'm in MN too).

[Sarah]

I laughed in shock when we moved from a city school to a suburban school. The city school had a small parking lot and some illegal street parking. And it was easy. You had to park (no drop off until the kids were much bigger), but there was nearly always a spot. When we moved to the suburbs (you know, comparatively, lots of free parking versus our city locale which had rules and very little parking) I grew to loathe the pick up drop off thing. I drop off in the morning, because at least you can get through the line. In the afternoon, I make them take the bus home because I hate having to get there 35 minutes early to find a place within a block of the school.

Blood boiling. Must think of something else. La la la.

Cute photos!

[Christine]

You have the prettiest children on the internet. Seriously.

Also, GAH, I think you were plenty restrained, because I certainly would not have been so polite to the hairspray woman, not even a little bit, not at all. The least she could have done, was move her stinking car after she saw you there, like a "whoopsy!" But gah. Yeah, you're totally justified.

[Melospiza]

Happy birthday! I believe we are almost exactly the same age.

And school dropoffs: Yes. Ugh. (And our school has a well-designed and viciously policed dropoff line. It doesn't really help, except to augment the smugness of those of us who follow the rules). When my oldest child decided that oh yes, actually, he LIKES the bus, I went down on my knees and said a little prayer to the transportation gods. Now I am blissfully free of such things (except for the rare days when I have to drop them/ paperwork/ projects off at the school, and, having mysteriously forgotten the hell that is school pickup and dropoff, am shocked and horrified anew.)

[lolismum]

Oh, the people. We live across from the parking lot of a small, private university. People use our driveway for 3 point turns and routinely destroy edges of our lawn, but whatever. They also block our driveway. The person who took the cake was a woman who parked in our driveway, PARKED!, for half an hour. I could not get my child from school on time because I could not get my car out. I sat next to her car, with a hammer and when she came out, she sheepishly looked at me and said, "sorry, I thought I would only be a moment." I looked at her and said, next time she parks on my private property and blocks me in, I will not only use the hammer to break the window , release the handbreak and send her car downhilll so I can get out, but also put a dent in her head. I still see her car, just nowhere near our driveway. With jerks, you need to be a jerk back.

[Jennifer]

I agree with the first comment regarding Celexa. My husband was not thrilled, and I gained weight. I tried Effexor, and it has worked well. I've also lost the weight, and my poor, neglected husband is doing a bit better. I hope I'm not making things more difficult...just my experience. There's not a choice that works well for everyone. Good luck!

[Rayne of Terror]

This is why my kindergartener rides the bus. I had to drop him off everyday for preK last year and it made me want to do recreational drugs and/or kill myself to get through it.

[Susie]

Having recently moved to Florida, I couldn't figure out why elementary schools needed a full-time Deputy until I experienced pick-up and drop-off (which we do every day to save our kid an eighty minute bus ride). He actually ticketed a mom who pulled across 2 lanes in the wrong direction and parked on the grass. Go Deputy!

I hate parents.

[karen]

I think the entitled parking and car line cutting is a universal problem in schools.I live across the street from a school and the things I see would make your head spin. Entitled parents who will raise entitled kids. Yuck. I can beat your hairspayed nitwit story( and her not helping you when Caroline hit her head just ramps her up on the bitch scale about a million times) I was in a bank/office building parking lot with my son in a carseat waiting for my husband. Some assclown in a hummer(need I say more?) tries to fit into the space next to our minivan. When he hit our car, he KEPT going..semmingly oblivious to the grinding metal on metal sound and my car shaking like we were in an earthquake. A lady in another car, stopped and as I jumped out of the car to ask him what the h he was doing, she was telling me she was a witness. Out comes my husband and askes the guy wtf? Guy says "I'm a lawyer, I know what to do..no need for the cops. I'll just give you $200 and we can call it a day." Ummm, hubby is a cop so...WRONG, LOL. Ended up costing $1500 to fix the car but that a-hole would've just walked away if we didn't stop him. Dick.

Yikes, sorry for the book, lol!!

[Tine]

Mrs. Aquanet-TwoSpace...bwahahahah!

I dunno why people are such arseholes sometimes. The older I get, the less hesitant I am to speak up. One of these days, I'll get myself shot.

[Stellas mom]

The parking situation reminds me of my favorite Karma story: I was in an underground parking lot, held up with huge concrete columns. I spotted an open space just as another car zoomed around the curve coming from the opposite direction. He too saw the open space and decided to "steal" it from me by zipping into it. Only, he wasn't a skilled enough driver, so plowed directly into one of thehuge concrete columns and severely damaged his car.

It still makes me smile every time!

[Steph]

Grrr . . school parking lots. Talk about a visceral response.

My sons school has almost no parking he gets out at 3:10, I arrive at school to get in line at 2:30 so I can get out out by 3:20 to go park at my daughters school . . which is a cluster*&^( from one end to the other. I park in a designated space while a bunch of other people form a line behind the people who are parking in a space . . so we are blocked in . . usually I am just patient and let everybody get out then I back out and go . . but the one day I need to have my kids somewhere is the very day no one will move no one will make a space. It is beyond annoying.

[victoria]

Why not get out of your car and politely let folks know that they're breaking the rules and making an awkward situation worse for everyone? "Hi, you might not have realized this, but all the traffic is supposed to go the other way? I'm just pointing this out because I know you want the kids to be safe, too." Or, "Hi, I'm sure you didn't notice, but you're occupying two spots? Could you please pull forward?"

Or you could just pack a rifle with a scope and (discreetly) shoot out the other moms' tires when they misbehave provided, of course, that you have a permit to carry an unconcealed weapon, have had the appropriate training, and no children are in the line of fire.

[Jen]

oh! School parking lots... people driving like mad to get their own children to school, without noticing ALL THE OTHER CHILDREN at school? Well. Yes, it does annoy me just a bit.

Also, people who walk their damn dogs to the door of the school... I can't have the only kid who is terrified of dogs can I?

[bethany actually]

Oh man, that parking lot thing would ANNOY THE CRAP OUT OF ME. It's not just the Celexa, and it's not just you. Argh.

We have...interesting neighbor kids where we live right now. Theoretically they would be good playmates for my daughter, because they're about her age, they live right across and the street, they have an awesome swingset and tree swing in their front yard, they have an in-ground pool in their backyard. They even own a freaking BOUNCE HOUSE which they bring out and set up for all the neighborhood kids to enjoy once a month or so...but. BUT.

These kids are just weird, and not in a quirky, charming, interesting way. They are annoying. They don't listen to adults, they are disrespectful, they ignore direct requests, they stare blankly and say nothing when you call out a cheerful hello to them, they play rough and call names and are just kind of jerks. Now, Annalie is an only child and she could definitely use some education in the art of playing with kids who aren't totally nice, so I have not forbidden her to play with them. But we do have a lot of talks about how if she doesn't like the way Z and I are playing, she can just say, "I think I'll go home now," and do just that; and how someone being mean to you does not mean you should be rude and unkind to them in return, etc. (That whole, "doesn't matter what other people are doing, all that matters is that your own behavior is appropriate" thing.)

ANYWAY. The other day they were playing with Annalie in our yard under my watchful eye, and they were all having a great time. When it was time for them to go home, Annalie asked if they could each have a Twizzler from our Halloween candy. I said sure, handed them out, and we went inside. Later that day we went out to the car to go somewhere and found two Twizzler wrappers fluttering around our front yard. These kids, who are 7 and 9 and should KNOW BETTER, had just dropped their trash, from the candy I gave them, right in our yard. Grrrrrrrr. I'm thinking their parents are probably the types to drive against the arrows and park across 2-3 spots.

[juliag]

OMG...I've been that parent that goes against the rules parking lot at times. I hate myself doing it about half as much as I hate watching other people do it. Maybe that's the motivator. It feels lame to do it...but sometimes it feels even lamer to see other people do it and get away with it? Still, mostly I'd rather feel self righteous and do the right thing and reserve my bad moments for days that feel truly dire.

[Alex]

I got on Celexa (full disclosure: and another anti-anxiety drug -- as it turns out, I have Panic Disorder) and I feel much, much better. Like much, much, much better. And no distasteful side effects to speak of. I hope it works just as well for you.

[Allison]

re: school parking lot

I live directly across the street from a school just like that. People think it's cool to literally block my driveway, sometimes, 2, 3 times a day so I can't get out or in.

::HEAD EXPLODE::

[rosie]

OH, i thought these parents were only at my kids' school. and i thought it was a bitchy new york thing. this crap happens elsewhere? it's the entitlement that drives me crazy. we are all waiting and we are all dropping off preschoolers so why do only some of us have to follow the rules?

sorry, this gets me mad.

glad the celexa is working...i am about to embark on my first meds, too. (prozac, old school).

[Maureen]

Those entitled parents picking up / dropping off their children are everywhere. At my daughter's school they sent letters to every family then had a policeman at pickup & dropoff. The entitled finally had to follow the rules the rest of us had followed.

[rose]

Is there a special modem you need? I don't rent mine from my service provider, I buy tham at Bestbuy or whatever electronic place sells them . I call my service provider and they help with the install. They usually last 3-4 years, and so are about 1/4 the cost of renting the modem.
Parking-yes, everyone has something more important to do than wait in line. I'm surprised the school isn't all over this.

[SarahB]

That last photo is almost more than my heart can bear. Oh, it's just...oh.

Your parking lot grumbles sound like my Metro commute grumbles. Also, DC Bike Commuters, 1) Get off the sidewalk and for crying out loud do not careen so close to be and 2) Put on a helmet.

Thank for you for the venting opportunity.

[Shana in Texas]

Apparently parental misbehavior in during drop-off is a universal thing! Our actual drive is one-way and the safety patrol kids open and close doors for students. It's actually fairly speedy and efficient. However, there is some parking available on the street along one side of the school and some parents inevitably just stop the car in the street, open the doors (moms driving vans with auto-close doors are the worst!), and let their kids out and pass through the cars to get to the school sidewalk. There are crossing guards and parent supervisors but they can't stand in the street to catch them at it. I'd love to avoid this, but we are too close to the school be bus riders despite how much my daughter begs to do it.

[she]

I live in a 6 unit building in Chicago. There used to be another family with kids. They had 2 kids, 5 and 3. We had two kids, 4 and 2. You would think that we would be swapping kids back and forth all the live long day.

Naw.

We walk to preschool and the store and our neighbor with the other kids not only drove everywhere, but almost fucking hit us not once, but twice. Once while we were in front of our own building crossing our driveway, and once while we were crossing the street and she wanted to make a right hand turn. She made the turn, so close I could touch her car. She also would park in the driveway blocking it so no one else in the building could get their cars in or out, then take a shower. When I knocked on her door, she got all shirty with me.

I was so glad they sold their unit, cuz her self involved cluelessness was becoming an ugly issue for me.

[Julie]

The smallish parking lot at my office is a one-way lot. There's a small "Keep Right" sign that a few people consistently ignore. Keeping right would mean having to drive maybe 100 extra feet before finding a space, and I guess that is unacceptable to them. Our admin is a Pollyanna who assumes that if people were aware of going the wrong way, they would stop doing that. She had the bushes trimmed adjacent to the sign in case they were blocking it. No difference. She had another larger sign posted. Still nothing. She had arrows painted on the lot and when that didn't work I finally looked her square in the eye and delivered an important life lesson: some people are assholes.

[Angela@cambridgemedicaldevices.com]

I have already written one letter to the elementary school principal to suggest a new system for drop-off in the school parking lot. 5 cars pull in, 5 student patrol members open the passenger doors, say good morning, let the student(s) out, say have a nice day, and close the doors. Then they swing their arms in a windmill motion as if to say, move it along now, it's safe, and then 5 more cars pull in. I've seen it in action at one school and it was beautiful. Yes, beautiful.

[beth]

Our refrain at the school parking lot is that some of the other parents aren't aware that children besides their own go to this school. Every day they seem confused at the hordes of strange children and their parents milling about as they double park and hog the road.

PS. I was in Redbook! So cool.

[Brooke]

Yes, yes, fine, but how did Patrick's Halloween party go?!

I used to call security on the mom in the Escalade who left her truck running in the preschool parking lot. It made me way angrier than it should have. Luckily, my kids will walk to school.

[Elizabeth]

For years a frined of mine from college has been blogging sporadically about her attempts to bring sanity to her son's elementary school drop-off. (She's on the PTA.) What I have gathered from these posts is that bears a striking resemblance to rolling a boulder uphill.

[Teri]

If Caroline ever needs a therapist (and I would pay to see that session), she'll be all ready with her feelings assessment. "I feel very sad! I am upset; I am more than upset! This is terrible! I should go home! I feel worried and angry!" Her Someone is going to love her. None of this "How do you feel?" "I don't know."

[Kris]

I sometimes pick my son up from kindergarten, and there isn't much of a parking issue, but there is a huge entitlement issue. Last time I picked him up people were complaining about our states tax system, and how when you got money back from the state it usually was only around 75 dollars, and so not even worth cashing. I thought, wow, I would love to get 75 dollars, that is a ton of diapers. Of course, these were the moms I hated in play group too who had a different wedding ring for every occasion, and once I got divorced, scorned me like I was wearing a big red A(or D, since I wasn't adulterous, but women were different around me, and one actually did accuse me of having a nonexistent affair with her husband.)

[yammeringon]

This has nothing to with schools, but:
My friend's sister is supposed to work for her 1-2 days/week, watching the baby and doing light housekeeping so friend can do bookkeeping and other work. She failed to turn up on Friday. On Monday (the makeup day), she was 3 hours late, without having called. She stayed 3 hours, made herself tea, brought the baby to friend every 10 minutes because "I think he needs to nurse" (baby is nearly 1, and nurses every 6-8 hours, generally). At the end of the time, she said: "I feel like going home. It's been three hours. That's $24, but that doesn't sound like much, so let's call it $30."

That was the most ridiculous bit of assholery I've heard this week.

[Kara]

My daughter is in Kindergarten and rides the bus to and from school every day, so I pretty much forgot about the hell that was the preschool parking lot:

The parking lot for the school was TINY, and unmarkedly reserved for ONLY seniors, the handicapped, and single adults with a preschooler AND an infant in a car seat carrier... everybody else had to park in supplemental lots that were several houses down or across the street. Needless to say, the rules as outlined at *every* meeting were too difficult for many to understand. On top of that, the building was on a corner and the lot was one way, so those of us who were good and drove around the corner to enter properly always had our spaces stolen by those that snuck in the wrong way, who happened to be young, non-handicapped couples with one child. Jerks.

Can't wait to revisit that next year, when my son is ready for preschool.

[rupiedupie]

Let's not forget about the moron drivers who pull away from curbside with no signal/blinkers on...who do it without regard for the MOVING drivers in the lane/who have right of way.
Use your blinker people, look for moving traffic before you swing out.
Oh, and isn't it JUST GREAT when someone drives like an utter abnorm...and then you have the pleasure of following them down the road for another 3 miles/ten minutes/what feels like eternity to wherever it is we're all going? One gal who reamed me in the school lot...turned embarrassingly sheepish as I happenstancily followed her on down the road one day. Turns out we live in the same neighborhood. And I can guarantee, WE WILL NEVER BE AQUAINTED.
Sheesh, I think if one driver drove against designated traffic patterns every day...I would be tempted to drive right in front of them one day and BLOCK THEM when they did it. Then I'd just park there in front of them until they felt the pain of it.
Then I'd go out for a fancy cup of coffee and enjoy the rest of my day.