Competition at the School Gate

 

We have had a wonderful summer and now slowly but surely, commuting is descending into chaos once more.  The kids are heading back to school.

There is now a new tribe on the block ‘activewear mum’ who dons trendy workout gear for the school run and jogs her kids to school.

Three quarters of parents polled said they have ‘activewear mums’ at their school.

One in seven school gates now also has a ‘handbag dog mum’ who carries a tiny but expensive teacup dog in a blinging designer handbag, alongside one in four ‘vegan eco mums’.

A further seven in ten have ‘drive-by mums’ at their school that park on the double yellow lines outside the school gates and throw the kids out of the car before roaring off.

Three in five parents do the school run with disorganised ‘WhatsApp mums’ who harangue the class WhatsApp group to keep track of activities and homework.

With the increase in working mums, 50 per cent of those polled also say they have seen more grandparents on the school run, while a third report a leap in the number of work-at-home dads taking tots to school.

But almost half of parents polled described themselves as a ‘good enough mum’ who takes shortcuts such as feeding her family frozen food but always gets costumes made and homework done just in time.

Overall, the study showed 45 per cent of parents enjoy the school run with five per cent of mums claiming it is the ‘highlight’ of their day.

However, a quarter of mums admit they ‘dread it’, with 74 per cent of parents claiming to feel more pressure to look well-groomed on the school run than in previous years.

Worryingly, the poll also found over half of parents say there is a hierarchy of mums at the school gates with 72 per cent feeling excluded by other parents and five per cent even being bullied.

However the school gates can also a place of friendship with two in five mums meeting a best friend on the school run and 29 per cent actively supporting a small business run by other parents at their school.

Tune in for the different types of dad on the block!!!!