School finishes at 310. The kids are normally all out by 320 and we head back to the car. I arrived a few minutes early for pick up, and so I have a great parking space close to school. The means tired legs don't have far to walk. Bags are carefully placed in the boot without squashing anything that is already in the car. The kids calmly decide between them who sits in which space and everybody over the age of 6 buckles themselves in. I buckle in the youngest two and start the car. The radio is playing softly in the background and we drive home. Once home, everybody remembers their bags, shuts the doors behind them and goes calmly into the house. We eat a snack of cheese, crackers and fruit before they go off to play, read, do homework or practise musical instruments. I finish up dinner, which I already prepped earlier and as we eat, we discuss the day and everybody chats quietly and calmly. After dinner, the table is cleared, wiped, dishwasher loaded, floor swept and everybody retires to finish homework, music practice, playing or reading before showers, baths and bed.
A bad day......
School finishes around 310. I am running later than normal and make it to the gates at 311. On a good day, this is when the gates open. One bad day, they open at 309 and by 311 parents are already walking their children back to the cars. My youngest schoolchild feels like he is the last one left, and wonders where on earth i was. Whilst I wait for the juniors to grace me with their presence on the playground, my preschooler and infant child cause a fracas with a couple of nearby children, resulting in lots of ear piercing screaming, shouting, running about and general hullabaloo. I alternate between casting apologetic glances at parents in the close vicinity, whilst trying to shush them, and staring blankly at the floor in embarrassment. Neither option has the desired affect of restoring peace and order to playground. Eventually my two juniors stroll slowly out, blissfully unaware of the chaos their delay has caused. Burdened down with lunch boxes, school bags and a tired toddler who refuses to walk, we begin the trek back to the car, which is several hundred yards further down the road than it is on a good day, and so the whining begins. I try to open negotiations about carrying their own bags, which are usually successful with the oldest children....not on a bad day....at the car, the door is swung widely open, almost taking out a child on a scooter who happens to be passing at the wrong time. Instead of getting into the car, the children stand in a huddle whilst I strap the toddler in, so with the door open and the huddle of children, it is impossible for anyone to get passed. Despite being able to hear any private conversation between my husband and myself, they appear deaf to my requests to move and shut the door, they are too busy arguing about who will sit where, and who sat where last time. A small group of people has built up behind them. Oblivious to the obstruction they are causing, they continue to argue until I successfully strap the toddler in and can give my full attention to playing referee. I convince them to at least move out of the way and let the crowd pass by (muttering threats about no tv time under my breath) they climb sullenly into the car, throwing bags haphazardly into the boot or footwell, with no regard to anything they may squash or step on.... the bickering continues most of the way home, with the toddler loudly demanding either a change of radio station when she doesn't like the song, or simply screeching to have it turned off completely. With my sanity rapidly evaporating, we arrive home. The kids leave half their bags in the car, and every door or window wide open, and run into the house for a snack. By the time I arrive, they are fighting over a packet of biscuits. I wearily ask them to return to the car to a) collect all their bags and b) shut the doors. They head to the lounge to put in the tv, whilst I hide in the kitchen, under the guise of making dinner, whilst really rifling through cupboards for some chocolate and surfing facebook status' on my phone....surely I can't be the only one to have such a rough ride after school....squeals from the lounge over what program to watch indicate it's going to be a long evening....
Now, having been a school run parent for the last 9 years, I can assure you that unfortunately we most definitely have more elements of the 'bad' after school days than the 'good'....although it is often more a mix of the two.
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