Today I got this request from a mom in my carpool: "I think there should be some sort of carpool protocol regarding which mom buckles the children in. Is it the mom in the car (the driver) or the mom whose child is climbing in?"
Apparently, since I am not home at the time of pickup, this mom must help buckle my child in. She is requesting reciprocity when her daughter comes into my car.
MY THOUGHTS:
A. My 4 1/2 year old is quite capable of getting buckled herself.
B. Does it need to be tit for tat? We each have different needs- I am not home, other moms are. My babysitter has an infant in the house at time of pickup, other moms have older children home.
C. If you just sent your daughter out, I'd make sure she either buckled herself of that I helped her before driving off. Why the need to establish a "protocol?"
D. SERIOUSLY?!?
...CARPOOL!
seriously indeed.
ReplyDeleteCompletely agree! What ever happened to helping people just for the same of helping? Especially with kids! Why does everything have to have a "protocol" nowadays?
ReplyDeleteAnd this is a general rant about protocol. Take "play dates" for example. When I was a child, there was no such thing - we simply walked over to friends in the afternoon after school, or on Shabbat, and played. That's it. No scheduling in advance, none of that stuff.
Well playdates have protocol too with regard to whose house it is held at and who is walking the child back and forth and how long they are allowed to stay- especially with younger kids. I think with regard to playdates, the kids lose out by parents' protocols!
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