A woman was left stunned by a 'lazy' mum's request when she went to pick up her son for the school run. The saying goes 'it takes a village to raise a child', but there are certain tasks parents should be able to handle without external assistance. However, one woman found herself questioning her limits after being asked to wake up her neighbour's son before collecting him for the school run.
Sharing her story on Reddit, the mum detailed how she became part of a carpool with two other mums to ease the burden of school drop-offs and pick-ups. She explained: "Two of my kids, aged 14 and 16, are in high school this year. But because we're not far enough away for the bus to take them, I drive them or they ride their bikes.
"Before the term started, I was approached by another parent in the area who asked if I would join a small carpool, my two kids, a set of twins in the same year as my oldest, and one kid in the year between mine. I agreed to drive to school on Tuesday and Thursday and pick up on Wednesday and Friday. There are two other parents who drive the other three days."
As the children returned to school last Tuesday, the mum was tasked with gathering them all from their homes and dropping them off for their first day. She added: "The kids were outside their homes waiting when I pulled up both days.", reports the Mirror.
"But this morning I asked my 16-year-old to text the carpool kids and remind them what time I would get there. She did and showed me the positive responses from the twins, the third kid didn't respond. I picked up the twins (waiting outside) and drove to the last kid's house. They weren't outside waiting, so I sent my oldest to knock on the door. She knocked twice and no answer, so I just took the other kids to school."
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When the mum arrived at work, she had three missed calls and a couple of "angry" voicemails from the child's mother, calling her an a***hole for not picking him up. I called her back and told her how my daughter texted to say about what time we would be there, and that my daughter knocked on the door when her kid wasn't outside waiting, and they didn't answer," she said."
"The mum said I should have called her kid to 'wake him up' before I left my house, and that I should have 'waited until he was ready'. I told her that waking her kid up is not my responsibility and that I can't wait around more than five to 10 minutes in the morning, since I don't want the other kids to be late to school. She called me a b**** and hung up on me."
Overwhelmed, the mum phoned the woman who coordinated the carpool and put forward her decision to abandon it. She divulged: "I explained I would be dropping out of the carpool. The other mum told me she'd had trouble with this other kid and his mum too, and if I was willing to still drive her kids she was still willing to drive mine, essentially getting this kid and his mum kicked out of carpool."
Feeling guilty for potentially leaving a young one without a ride to school, the frustrated mother turned to Reddit to seek advice on whether they deemed her responsible for the child's removal from the carpool. One incensed user responded: "She's nuts. It's insane to expect anyone else to be responsible for you getting your kid up and ready for school. I wouldn't even feel bad about it. That level of entitlement is astonishing."
Another contributed, advocating that the misbehaving child should have made efforts to apologise for the inconvenience: "Most parents would have had their kid call or text to apologise for making you wait."
Reassuring words came from a third user who encouraged: "They got themselves kicked out of the carpool. Maybe if they apologise and promise to get their kid up and out the door you and the other parent might reconsider. Maybe not. Either way, not your fault. You acted reasonably."
Do you have a story to share? Email paige.freshwater@reachplc.com.