The 10 Types of Parents You Meet in the School Pick-Up Line

The school pick-up line – it’s a necessary evil we all face! But have you ever sat there and watched all of the parents? You can find some really comical moments if you do – be it the mom who gets there an hour before pick up, or the last parent in the line.

 

 

I fit in here. My preschooler gets out 50 minutes before my elementary kids, so we sit in the pick-up line. But there are others there over an hour before me so they can be the first set of cars. 

 

We have two dads who sit in line. Their windows are down, cars are off, and they take a nice 30ish minute nap. Thankfully they each have an alarm set five minutes before the final bell loud enough we all get to rock out to Kid Rock and AC/DC. 

 

This lady is so funny she watches movies or TV shows on her van TV when in line. If she’s not watching it on the van it’s her phone or tablet. I have to admit sometimes I wish I knew what movie she had on… um, can I ask what’s playing? I’ll bring the popcorn 

 

Mama is dressed in her suit and always on a conference or zoom call in the car. She’s got her laptop open, planner on the dash, and coffee in hand. 

 

Nursing and Diaper Station 

When the baby is in the car with you, you gotta do what you gotta do. One poor mama had a blowout waiting in the pickup line. She had the baby, car seat, and car wiped up like it’s nothing new. The same mama has been seen nursing, getting a few snuggles in, and then tucking baby back into the seat just in time.

 

Some parents jam out in the car to music and you have no idea what’s playing till they roll down the window. We’ve had Backstreet Boys to ‘Lil Wayne playing in our pick-up line concert series. 

 

The Scroller 

Be it scrolling social media, email, amazon a lot of parents scroll through something. I’ll admit I’ve gotten all our Christmas lists updated doing this.

 

We have a handful of these, mostly because our building doesn’t allow parents to walk up to the doors for pick up. So these moms park in the parking lot and then go to the office to pick up their students 5 minutes before the bell. When asked why they don’t just sit in line they say “I don’t have time for that” or “why should I?”

 

This one is me. There is always a book in my purse, car, or on my phone, I’m reading. Several parents have been seen reading while in line at our school and it’s always fun to see what they have in their hands or on the dash. 

 

This is the parent who doesn’t know where to line up, when to stop, or go-between waves of kids coming out. The parent who drives up between the 2 pick-up lines, and thinks they get to be first. We’ve all been there. Just lost.