Having Kids In Three Different Schools Is No Joke

I have four kids ranging in age from 3 to 11. Let me give you a sense of my morning as a result: It’s 7:00am on Monday and I’m packing lunch for my two elementary school-aged middle children while double-checking the contents of their homework folders. And as I rush to make them breakfast, I send my preschooler upstairs to wake my oldest — the king of middle school — whose school day starts about an hour later.

Then I start the merry-go-round of drop offs. My husband is at work by this point so all the kids are along for the ride — and you can imagine how relaxing that is. First to the elementary school, then home for a few minutes before heading off to the preschool with my bookends, and then a quick trip to Starbucks until it’s time to drop my oldest off for his first period. The mornings are chaotic, messy, and pretty inconvenient... but so are most things at this stage in life. Because having four kids in three different schools is no joke and I am really tired.

And it doesn’t stop after the morning rush, of course. Just as I start to settle into a variety of daily tasks, I am gearing up for the afternoon circus! School ends at three different times, leaving me responsible for three rounds of after-school pickups, meltdowns, and snack times. It would be easier if I could just get slammed with one category 5 sh*tstorm, but nope. Add afterschool programs into the mix and drop-off and pick-up coordination requires a logistical sophistication far beyond my capabilities most weeks. And don’t bother asking if I’ve ever forgotten one of them somewhere — I assume you already know the answer.

And then there’s trying to keep track of the different school rules and guidelines. I feel like an air traffic controller with no sense of direction and a short circuit. One school is nut-free, one only allows nuts at snack and requires $2 to be sent in on Fridays for ice cream. One requires a keycard for entry, one you press a button, and the other you call a special hotline for tardies after you’ve dropped them at the door. The pickup lane for one school is right lane only, one is drop off and pay the meter, and the last is rolling drop off with absolutely no left turns. I assure you, I have nowhere near the amount of brain power necessary to keep it all straight.

Oh, and then there are the three different calendars of scheduled out-of-school functions and in-school activities. Things like open house, curriculum night, math night, crazy hair day, and the kindergarten concert. Once you add sports and other activities to the mix, it actually requires space and a million pushpins to create one of those investigative evidence walls that look like a big web in order to keep it all straight. And even then you will most definitely fail to show up to something, or at the very least forget about wacky sock day.

And of course this predicament is completely self-inflicted. I decided to have these four wonderful kids and space them out in a way that created this burdensome school scheduling situation. But God, it is harder than I thought!

So, here’s to all the parents out there juggling multiple schools this year. May your schedules stay up to date and your drop-offs timely. And if you forget a thing or two along the way — it’s okay. The chaos is real and you’re doing your best.

Samm is an ex-lawyer and mom of four who swears a lot. Find her on Instagram @sammbdavidson.