rules galore

After a taste of Texas schools' security I think Utah is pretty lax.

I have to ring a buzzer before entering any school and state why I am there. Then, after I'm allowed in, I have to go to the office and show them my driver's license. They make a copy of this, print out a photo sticker of it, and then I'm required to wear that while on the school premises. This even goes for my nephew's preschool.

Wow.

(I'm wondering if I should shred my photo stickers. That's got to be an increased risk for identity theft having all those copies of my driver's license floating around.)

They also have very specific rules about what can be brought in lunches - no candy, Little Debbie snacks, or cookies. I would blame allergies but they allow peanut butter sandwiches and peanuts are one of the most common allergies. I guess they just don't want students on a sugar high.

And don't get me started on picking the kids up from school. (Okay, too late, I've already started.) You must have a placard with your students' names and their teachers on it. This must be displayed on your dashboard. You drive up to the curb and a teacher reads the placard and then calls over a bullhorn to your students and tells them which number to stand by (parking spots are numbered). You pull into the assigned spot and your students arise from their seated positions and make their way to you - all very supervised.

I wonder if that means no carpooling.

A few years ago some friends and I went shopping and realized we were not going to make it back in time to pick up our children. I called my husband and gave him the list of kids to pick up. That could never happen here.

I'm getting way off topic but that's a really funny story.

My husband picked up the children of 4 or 5 women and took them all home. Later, one of the moms asked her son who drove him home (just testing him). He said, "I don't know." She was aghast and said, "Wait, you mean you got in a car with a stranger?" He said, "Well, all the other kids were." She told him, "That wasn't really a stranger. That was the Bishop who gave you a ride home." Her son said, "No it wasn't. He wasn't wearing a suit."