I have been quite astonished at the number of articles about yummy mummies at the school gates, and the trouble they go to to look good when delivering their dear little ones in the mornings. Apparently, some actually buy new outfits for the purpose. A new outfit to take the kids to school? Has the world gone quite mad?
When mine were small, they were dressed and fed, teeth cleaned, hair brushed (if they were lucky). I threw on some jeans (no time for make-up) and we tore up to the car (parked at the top of the lane).
This was the next bit of the "routine":
1.Throw kids in back of car, usually plus a baby.
2. Car refuses to start (almost always).
3.Put gears in neutral, and push said car (from the outside, obviously) down lane.
4. Car plus kids gathers speed (there is a dangerous junction and a busy road at the bottom, so time is of the essence).
5. (Here's the tricky bit) Jump into car before it reaches the junction, start engine, shut driver's door, apply brakes.
6. Reassure weeping kids.
7. Off to school.
No designer clothes, no new hair-do, no posh handbag (no handbag at all. I don't really do handbags), no extravagant outlay (although a new car would have been nice). Simple.
Frances,
ReplyDeleteI've noticed this, too, and they all seem to have very smart cars. I remember having fun taking my son to nursery school in a car which resembled his pedal car. In fact it could have been used as one if I had attached pedals near the hole in the floor! The windows fell inwards, too, when the doors were shut.
Unforgettable and wonderful memories.
Fanny
Come to think of it, I believe our car had holes in the floor too, Fanny.
DeleteFrances,
ReplyDeleteI've noticed this, too, and they all seem to have very smart cars. I remember having fun taking my son to nursery school in a car which resembled his pedal car. In fact it could have been used as one if I had attached pedals near the hole in the floor! The windows fell inwards, too, when the doors were shut.
Unforgettable and wonderful memories.
Fanny
Oh yes, when we lived in the country and were driven to school by my mother, she never even thought about she was wearing, as long as she was warm or cool enough for the weather.
ReplyDeleteShe'd holler for the three of us to get into the Jeep station wagon, shoo the dog out of the way, tear down the hill, rush into the neighbours' driveway to pick up their two teenagers, then charge down the rest of the hills, watching for a signal from the orchardist at the bottom to tell her where the police were waiting for her. Then she'd go the other way, drop my sister off at her school, drive down another hill to the high school, rush across the gravel parking lot and slam on her brakes right in front of the door, where the vice-principal was looking pointedly at his watch. From the school windows, all the students who had arrived on time were yelling, "Yay, Mrs. Davies!" We four quietly collected our Late Slips at the front desk and went off to our classes.
Sometimes Mother was fully dressed. Sometimes she had a coat on over her pyjamas.
K
Your mum sounds just like mine, Kay!
DeleteHaving lived in town nearly all my life, I simply walked to school. Not once was I taken there by car - we only had the one car anyway, and my Dad used it to get to work so early in the morning that we were still asleep when he left.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was 9 years old, my Mum started to work at the school library. She wore sensible clothes, because it involved quite a bit of physical work, too: Jeans and t-shirts in the summer, and jeans and jumpers in the winter.
Sadly, it was too far or walk, Meike. That would have been much better (and safer...)
DeleteYes, quite mad, Frances! It's taking peer pressure to a whole new level for adults. I suspect it only happens in certain areas. I didn't have the trauma of the car as we usually walked to the primary school - after I'd thrown on comfortable togs for walking!
ReplyDeletePeer pressure has a lot to answer for, Rosemary!
DeleteI wonder if they spend all their time thinking about what other mums are wearing - or if they also pay some attention to their children.
ReplyDeleteMost of the ones I see are one their mobiles. The kids don't get much of a look in.
DeleteI turned up in my car in my pyjamas once and just turfed my children out at the gates.
ReplyDeleteGood for you, Wendy!
DeleteI'm very glad I don't have to compete any more, although when I was taking my children to school yummy mummies hadn't been invented, and when I was a child I always walked to school, or got a bus. How times have changed.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure there must have been posh mummies, Maggie, but I didn't move in their circles (thank heavens).
DeleteThe world had definitely gone mad Frances. My three often sat eating cornflakes on the back seat of the car. After we'd pushed it to start of course, and jeans and baggy jumper were in vogue back then as well.
ReplyDeleteYou have a habit of writing posts which make me want to write a treatise on the subject. I despair of my fellow man when what to wear when dropping off the children becomes important enough actually to have peer pressure. That people are foolish enough to succumb to such peer pressure beggars belief. One of the beauties of living in a small Scottish isolated rural community is that everyone knows exactly what you had for breakfast so trying to fool people by dressing up to take the children to school would be futile. Mind you not dressing up for church would be downright unthinkable.
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