Good and Bad Carpool Parents...

With the Tonka's imminent graduation from nursery school, we are about to enter the world of kindergarten carpools.

A few weeks ago, the topic came up at a birthday party of a friend and I was introduced to the fact that "not all carpool parents are created equal."

It hadn't even occured to me, but I learned that some people maintain a "never will carpool with that person list."

The offenses range, of course, but include:

• last minute cancellations for non-emergency reasons
• unreasonable expectations of the other parents
• elaborate justifications for why a given "pick-up" is outside of his/her responsibility
• lack of flexibility (i.e. "we can never do mornings")
• poor communication

What I learned was "how to be a good team player."

What I wish I had: a list of the parents that were put on the "never will carpool with them" roster. (Could be a neat Facebook application, right? As in, "your friends said they would never carpool with so-and-so and thought you wanted to know.")

It'll happen.

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