To Fetch Or Not To Fetch
Towards the end of the year, or at the start of the new school term, we are bound to get asked if we can help fetch xyz back from school. How do you deal with that? If you are only fetching your kid to school, will you oblige to your friend’s/relative’s request?
Let me share with you my very own experience. It happened in 2010. My sister-in-law’s kid happen to be in the same year, and same school as my #1. She offered to pay me, but you know, relatives *roll eyes*, no point, ok. At first, i thought it’d be good that my yet-to-talk 7-yo-to-be kid would have someone to interact with on the way home each day. Abuthen, my (autistic special) kid was quite a handful as he wasnt used to such a major change in his life. The excitement, the crowd, coupled with the fact he’s not able to copy the day’s homework from the class blackboard, and i have to ask around during dismissal time, plus coax the kids to show me their homework/exercise/activity books so that i can snap pictures with my handphone single-handedly, as one hand must hold on to a squirming kid lest he takes off disappearing into the crowd forever proved too much for me to cope with at the start of the year.
After a month of madness, i sent her a message explaining my predicament and that she has to fetch her kid after school by herself, but at the same time, gave her ample time to make the necessary adjustment to her schedule. She then replied that i was being inconsiderate and those last-minute blah, blah, blah. OMFBBQ….. i think that’s enough for me to not oblige to fetching anyone’s kid for them ever. I’m alright to ad-hoc requests if i dont have errands to run.
You see, for my sister-in-law, she has a 9 – 5 job, and school’s over at 6.15pm. She has more than enough time to fetch her kid from school, and yet, she chose to have some kinda after-work activity, like yoga, line-dancing and dunno what else. I actually do appreciate it if she can be at my place latest by 7pm to pick her kid up from my house and let me handle my household in orderliness. But hell, no. Not only do i have to send her kid for tuition twice a week. I even have to mind an extra kid at home till she comes by around 8pm or so. And whenever she’s over, she expected us to let her to use the bathroom first. THE ONLY BATHROOM!!! It’s already difficult to handle my two boisterous kids during after-school hours, i also have to handle hers who only wants to play with mine, thus, screwing up my time-table.
So, it’s a firm NO for me. What about you?

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