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Looking for ways to end carpool chaos? Get in lineWritten by Nancy Churnin The Dallas Morning News Gail Perry, 38, scored at the auction at her daughter's private school last year when she bought first place in line in the carpool at Dallas' Highlander School. DRIVE AWAY WITH THESE TIPS
Leave for school earlier. Get kids ready the night before and wake up early to beat the rush. Don't hold up the line. Don't stop in the moving traffic line to let kids in the car to talk with a teacher or run into the school for a quick errand. Follow traffic rules. Don't park in the cross- walk, for example. If lanes are merging, take turns. Don't bring pets or younger siblings unless you can make sure they won't dash out of the car, leaving you to chase them. Share the load. Trade off with another family to pick up each other's kids. Be sure to discuss whether you can run errands with all the kids on the way home and what music and snacks are allowed in the car. Behave as you would like yourself and your family to be treated. Nancy Churnin Cost? "A couple hundred dollars," is how she puts it -- the spot has been known to fetch just under $1,000. But being able to breeze in at 3:14 p.m. and zoom to the head of the line to pick up Katherine, 8, for the 3:15 dismissal is priceless. "The first day of school, we called my husband on the cellphone and we whooped because we were done so fast," says Ms. Perry. For most parents, carpool doesn't go that smoothly. Kara King, 32, of Garland cringes when she recalls being stuck with the rear of her car protruding into traffic because the driver in the car ahead of her ran into the school "for just a minute." And Karen Harrison, 43, says she left her job as a crossing guard in her Lewisville neighborhood because it was just too stressful. "It can be a dog-eat-dog car fight when people are trying to merge into the circle in front of the school where kids are being dropped off," Ms. Harrison says. "Some people get very impatient and curse you out. I've seen confrontations where people get out and go face to face." Recently, Joy Weaver, owner of Plano-based Protocol Enterprises Inc., has been deluged with carpool questions on her interactive Web site (www.protocolexpert.com). To research her answers, she accompanied a friend doing carpool with a middle schooler. "People tend to think they're invisible when they're behind the wheel of their car," Ms. Weaver says. "They seem to think, 'I'm on a mission, I've got to get my child and get on with my life.' But everybody has a life and it would be just so much easier if people would treat others the way they want others to treat them." For Bill McLaughlin, an assistant principal at Renner Middle School in Plano, the bottom line is safety. He doesn't like the honking, but what bothers him even more is seeing parents cut each other off and dart into lanes where kids may be crossing the street or riding on bicycles. "I wish people would understand that even on the worst day, it will probably only take 10 minutes for the entire carpool line to clear out," says Mr. McLaughlin. He's seen the same issues at the four schools where he has taught over the years. "In the interest of our kids' safety, we can all spare 10 minutes out of our lives." |
