While it 'takes a village to raise a child', not everybody in the neighbourhood wants to be roped into parenting a stranger's kid. But that's exactly what happened to one mum who was ordered to 'wake up' her neighbour's son every morning before collecting him for the school run.
Taking to Reddit, the mum explained how she joined a carpool with two other mums to make the school pick up and drop off that bit easier on them all. She said: "Two of my kids, aged 14 and 16, are in high school this year. But because we're not far enough away for the bus to take them, I drive them or they ride their bikes.
"Before the term started, I was asked by another parent in the area if I would join a small carpool, my two kids, a set of twins in the same year as my oldest, and one kid in the year between mine. I said I could drive to school on Tuesday and Thursday, and I can pick up on Wednesday and Friday. There are two other parents who drive the other three days."
As the children returned to school last week, the mum was tasked with collecting them all from their houses and dropping them off for their first day.
She added: "The kids were outside their homes waiting when I pulled up both days.
"But this morning I asked my 16-year-old to text the carpool kids and remind them what time I would get there. She showed me the positive responses from the twins, the third kid didn't respond.
"I picked up the twins (waiting outside) and drove to the last kid's house. They weren't outside waiting, so I sent my oldest to knock on the door. She knocked twice and no answer, so I just took the other kids to school."
When the mum arrived at work, she had three missed calls and a couple of "angry" voicemails from the child's mother, calling her an a***hole for not picking him up.
"I called her back and told her how my daughter texted to say about what time we would be there, and that my daughter knocked on the door when her kid wasn't outside waiting, and they didn't answer," she said.
"The mum said I should have called her kid to 'wake him up' before I left my house, and that I should have 'waited until he was ready'.
"I told her that waking her kid up is not my responsibility, and that I can't wait around more than five to 10 minutes in the morning, since I don't want the other kids to be late to school. She called me a b**** and hung up on me."
Not wanting any more to do with the carpool, the mum rang the parent who organised it to explain the situation.
She said: "I explained I would be dropping out of the carpool. The other mum told me she'd had trouble with this other kid and his mum too, and if I was willing to still drive her kids she was still willing to drive mine, essentially getting this kid and his mum kicked out of carpool."
Feeling bad about leaving the child without a lift to school, the mum has taken to Reddit to ask whether she should be blamed for the child being kicked out the carpool.
One user said: "She's nuts. It's insane to expect anyone else to be responsible for you getting your kid up and ready for school. I wouldn't even feel badly about it. That level of entitlement is astonishing."
Another user added: "Most parents would have had their kid call or text to apologise for making you wait."
A third user said: "They got themselves kicked out of the carpool. Maybe if they apologise and promise to get their kid up and out the door you and other parent might reconsider. Maybe not. Either way, not your fault. You acted reasonably."
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