Carpool Daze
Ahhhh Carpool!!! As we approach the final few days of senior year in high school, my mommy carpool days are officially ending, and a new reality is creeping in.
The fact is, I really haven’t had carpool duty in 2 years, but it is still a memorable experience as a mom!
I want to give my thanks and love to the #carpool line! I’ve spent the last 20 years doing the carpool line, and I’m grateful for pretty much every second of it!
I will miss the morning scrambles out the door, wildly hectic and unnerving at times, hauling three kids to - at one point - three different schools, like an F1 driver, delicately delivering my most precious cargo to their amazing teachers and educators. I derived comfort knowing that they were going to be greeted by kind and patient men and women dedicated to encouraging and celebrating learning. Phew, thankfully my kid’s academics didn’t 100% lie in my hands!
The parents driving away from the morning carpool lane reminded me of what it was like as a high school senior. A few immediately rolled down their car windows and started yelling about meeting up at the local hangout, coffee shop, or gym. Others started smoking; some were like real race car drivers, flooring it and heading off to the office, while others were guilty of catching up on phone calls and texts while checking the car for left-over items. Taking a forgotten item to my child at school was, no doubt, one of my favorite moments because it gave me a chance to enter a quiet school, have fun conversations with some of the staff, and then get another hug and kiss from the forgetful child. As they aged, I stopped doing this since it was important for them to be mindful of their actions, and often I was unable to get back to school as their personal delivery messenger!
The morning carpool was often a blur—basically Uber for kids. It was similar to the Ubers I’ve had—not a lot of conversation, but cordial and polite, and grateful every time there’s a phone charger available. I will miss the smell of maple syrup left on paper plates thrown on the floor and the half-eaten breakfast "cookie" that I was grateful to find under a seat while stuck in LA traffic. I will miss all of that for sure, but what I’ll really miss the most is the afternoon carpool pickup.
I had the luxury of being able to work from my phone, so if pick-up was at 2:30 at one school, I acted like a business logistics major to revise a winning game pick-up plan that was top-notch and possible to execute! After all, if you can’t execute the game plan, you’ve got nothing!
My winning plan was that I would always be the first one in line to avoid the slow inching up, and, being a bit claustrophobic, I didn’t enjoy being trapped in a sea of cars. The beauty of the plan was that I could get work done at the same time! That’s a win-win!!
Being the first one in line meant that I would enter the parking lot at least one hour early, sometimes 1 1/2 hours early, and I would turn off the car and do whatever work I had to do!
My kids knew exactly where to find me when they opened the school doors and came running out. I could always get a good view of their sweet faces as they giggled with friends and gave out hugs while walking toward the car. The more rumpled and disheveled, the better, as those were signs to me that they played and were being kids!
So that was truly a great reason for being #1 in the carpool!
Friendships in the Carpool Lane
I could easily end here, and that would have made my decades of carpooling worth it; however, the carpool experience blessed me with two wonderful friendships: Charles and Tony, the security guards at my kids' school.
Getting into the line 90 minutes ahead of time gave me the opportunity to chit chat, share, laugh, and listen, and like my kids getting an education inside the building, I was getting one in the parking lot! My mom always told me never to show up empty-handed, so I’d bring extra ice teas, lattes, or snacks to share. Although the truth is that usually Charles and Tony would give me the goodies they brought, both of their wives were amazing cooks, and I was the beneficiary of many leftovers!
Again, that would be a great memory for most anyone, yet there’s more!
Charles was a huge Cowboys fan from Abilene, Texas. I knew of Abilene since one of my most beloved Eagles players, Wilbert Montgomery, went to Abilene Christian. Wilbert Montgomery was the player who had the winning touchdown in the 1981 NFC championship game against the Dallas Cowboys that sent the Birds to the Super Bowl! Yet, even as an Eagles fan, Charles gave me a pass, along with lots of conversations and history lessons on SEC football.
Charles knew my mom's connection to Randall Cunningham, and we spent hours talking about Sam Cunningham and SEC football!
USC star Sam Cunningham, who’s the brother of Eagles QB Randall Cunningham, changed SEC football!
I had some basic knowledge from my mom and grandfather when I listened to Charles talk about it, but he was like my very own football historian.
Here’s the play-by-play... USC beat Alabama 42–21 in Birmingham on September 12, 1970. Sam's performance in the game was reportedly a factor in convincing the University of Alabama and its fans to let Coach Bear Bryant integrate Southern football.
And this is why I LOVE speaking sports! Charles and I would spend hours talking about sports and family, and it was Charles who also encouraged me to publish Football Freddie and Fumble the Dog!
By the way, I wrote six of my nine Football Freddie and Fumble the Dog GameDay in the USA books sitting in the carpool line! On my phone.
Now, after I would get out of the Charles carpool line, I would drop off at horses or flag football and be 60 minutes ahead of others for the 4 p.m. pick up, and that would bring Tony Franklin into my life! If you’re an Eagles fan, you’ll appreciate the name Tony Franklin. Tony Franklin was a former National Football League football kicker between 1979 and 1988 for the Philadelphia Eagles, the New England Patriots, and the Miami Dolphins. Franklin was best known for his barefoot kicking style, which led to his nickname "The Barefoot Kicker''. He played college football at Texas A&M. Therefore, when I said to Tony Franklin, "You know you share a name with the former Eagles kicker," Tony knew exactly who I was talking about. Tony Franklin was a huge Raiders fan. He knew my pain from Super Bowl 15 and, like a gracious winner, didn’t gloat too much. Tony was also a huge Dodger baseball fan, and we would spend hours talking about family, the musical sounds of Philadelphia, aka TSOP, Gamble and Huff, Teddy Pendergrass, and the Philadelphia Eagles 1981 anthem by McFadden and Whitehead’s "Ain’t No Stopping Us Now." We’d also share stories of faith and baseball and why they were so special to him. Knowing how much he loved Jackie Robinson, it was a gift for me to give him a signed copy of Ed Henry’s book "42 Faith"! What fun it is to surprise people who have only been there to support us!
Tony Franklin and Charles Howard were hired to protect our kids, and like they say, "Not all heroes wear capes; some wear baseball caps with the words security on them!
True words—they definitely provided me with security in ways they didn’t even realize!
“Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.” - Dr. Seuss
When I begin to think about how this chapter of my life is ending, so much has happened at a technical standstill. What was "waiting" in the carpool line for some was a huge "movement" for me.
Carpool days were some of the best days of my life, and I will treasure memories of those times forever.
You know, it's not what you do; it’s who you do it with!
Carpool changed my life, and for that, I say sit back and enjoy the wait!
*** I’m still friends with Charles and Tony, and they’re still doing carpool!! Lucky parents!!
