Most mornings the school- and creche run is my responsibility.
This is a round trip that involves a car trip to the creche (with both kids in tow to drop of one child), a drive back home (through horrendous Dublin traffic) to park the car and then walk child #2 to her school, before finally beginning on my walk down to my local Luas stop so I can get into work.
All in all, from I leave my door in the morning until I walk into the office, this takes roughly an hour and twenty minutes.
Which means, my math-challenged friends (myself included, I had to do the calculations now) that I spend a whopping six hours and forty minutes every week doing the school run. And that is if my other half does the collection run, because if I am on that duty too, you can add another 45 minutes per day onto that number.
Looking at these figures, I feel less surprised that a new UK study just found that British parents spend almost nine weeks of their lives doing the school run – and for over a third of them, it’s the most stressful duty they undertake.
I hear you, mamas (and dads too).
The research, which was commissioned by carmaker, ŠKODA, asked more than 2000 parents about their school run chores, and what it was that made this time so stressful.
Unsurprisingly, the researchers found that traffic (64%) is the most common obstacle parents faced on their daily commute, with parents living in more remote parts of the country facing others challenges, like weather (flooding, snow, etc.) or even livestock coming onto the road.
What do YOU think, parents? How many hours a day does it take you to do the school run? And do YOU find it a challenge? Let us know in the comments or tweet us at @Herfamilydotie
