10 Easy Ways to Know You Don’t Belong in the School Drop Off Line

"Can't you take a joke?" is the refuge of the bully.

I will assume you meant "conflicted" and not "convicted." I’m not being the autocorrect police, but it seems a good means of pointing out that even the best-intentioned attempts at levity can go sideways somewhere along the line.

You declared my language dramatic, yet I'm trying to conjure a situation where calling other parents' children snowflakes is not dramatic and intended to injure that parents' feelings. And that sentiment is mean and small. I don’t think you are a mean or a small person. You’ve put all this effort and love into making a years long blog full of information you want to share with complete strangers.

It appears that several people have reached out to you in non-aggressive ways to attempt to kindly explain how your screed was understood by them. In return, you (and your other posters), ridiculed them, accused them of being the people who make the errors that anger you and dismissed their comments with “can’t you take a joke?” It feels very middle school. It seems very defensive.

I’m also a writer and I understand that there are always cranks and people who intentionally misinterpret your words in order to feel the self-righteous adrenaline of having taken offense. That doesn’t appear to be the case here. It appears that you’ve been fighting the “is this funny or mean?” battle for a couple of years.

Maybe it’s time to take a step back and re-evaluate this particular post? Do you want these sentiments (which have not even the most tenuous relationship to recipes) do be part of your brand? Someone searches for recipes from a Christian family woman and they stumble across this post, which is neither food related nor particularly Christian in sentiment.

That meme is the thing that will always stick with me about your blog. With Plain Chicken it’s those delicious cornflake peanut butter cookies. With Kitchn it’s the overnight yeasted waffles. With Chocolate and Zucchini it’s the Liege waffles recipe (yeah, waffles are a thing).

I wish you continued success with your blog.

I have been experiencing similar thoughts and frustrations at my first grader's school drop off. I didn't realize how unkind they were until someone shared your meme with me.

I try to practice not being judgmental, giving others the benefit of the doubt, understanding they are also trying to come from a place of goodness, and accepting our individual human frailties and failings with grace, always.

So, congratulations on making me see how terrible I've been. No parent or child should feel like they "don't belong" in any school zone. No one should call other people's children "snowflakes" with sarcasm and the intent to injure. I can't believe you simultaneously quote Corinthians and publish such a mean spirited, ill intentioned and hurtful meme.

Please rethink your position on leaving this post up. I've found that when you write something broad intending to hurt one person or group of people, you end up accidentally hurting many others, including some you may really care about. But for this message, no one should feel they are being rebuked except for the author. Really, rethink this piece and meme.

In short (yes, I know it’s pretty obvious by now I don’t know how to say anything concisely): * this is directed at the people that DELIBERATELY and REPEATEDLY do whatever the heck they want to because they’re more important than the rest of us and screw up the entire system (believe me, we know who does it day after day, these are the frustrating ones) * this is NOT directed at the people that only “mess up” occasionally (we know you aren’t one of the deliberate jerks, we have patience and grace for you) * simply put, the concept and purpose of the drop off and pick up lanes is to drop off and pick up in a quick and efficient manner. If you want or require additional time, time that slows down the whole system, please use a parking stall. Simple. * this was a truthful and HILARIOUS post cathartically dealing with a frustrating topic, very well done, Nicole. * I can tell by this post and by the mature, respectful way she dealt with people who should use said parking stalls, Nicole is EXACTLY the sort of mom I’d want in my classroom, or at my school in general. A funny, loving, REAL, hard working woman who cares about more than just herself. I’d count myself truly blessed if she were my friend.

I love this post. This has been my pet peeve since my oldest was in kindergarten. It's such a simple system and it works of parents we're considerate of others. Unfortunately this happened in both elementary and middle schools. Seems better at the high school but the school year Just started. ? Happy to have found your site, now going to check out the recipes ????

Nicole, I entering my 20th year as a special education teacher, and have dealt with the hell that is traffic duty.

If you chose to write this piece actually using "humor", it could have been pretty amusing. However, it's not funny. It's insulting and rude. When I'm standing in torrential rain and someone takes a little too long to drop off their child, it bothers me a lot less than the jackass in the SUV swearing at me, honking, threatening me, because they are running late. Why don't those of you who are so important that you lose it if you have to wait park and walk your child up to the school.

It's also really lovely the way you insult not only the parents, but the children too. I have a student with cerebral palsy. It will always take him longer to get out of the car....but I guess he should be excluded from the drop off line so that you aren't inconvenienced. I've also had children with terminal illnesses. If that mom wants to watch her child get into the school on the rare occasions that they are well enough to attend, why deprive her of that?

I know people like you, and I'm sure nothing I say will matter to you..... I hope you are able to keep your nasty comments to yourself when your children are around, I'm guessing, no.

You are the parent teachers do not like to encounter.