Dropping Abby off at school reminds me of a comedian I once heard. Supposedly, he took his daughter to the playground, and the mothers there were rabid. Playgrounds are usually pretty safe environments with all the parents present, and it borders on expected for a mother to look after kids who aren’t her own should something happen like a fall, or scrape, or stranger offering candy. A man among the children is instantly labelled a predator. And sometimes, that’s how I feel taking Abby to school
It’s not all the time, and it’s never when Abby is with me. It’s always when I come out. There is some mother out there with her kids, and she’s very protective. I smile at all these people in the morning, but I often get nothing but scathing looks, as if to say, “Get away from my baby! Get away from my car! Why are you here? Get away from me!”
I usually drop Abby off at her preschool at least two days a week. This behavior among the mothers of the children is not universal, just common among the mothers that drop their kids off at the same time as I do. But there are more weird things that these parents do that make me wonder about them.