Sacrificial Hospitality Challenge: Week 3

I have to be honest... I am truly enjoying myself this Lenten season. I have been so much more MINDFUL of what the season is about this year and sharing hospitality has been such a rewarding journey. It hasn't been too hard to work these challenges with our current budget, but the creative thinking process has been good for me too.

And on to week 3...

I'm hoping this doesn't seem like a lame challenge to all of you! But, as I thought of needs I see out there that seem to go unmet, this one jumped to mind...

Let me start by saying that I absolutely adore my kids' preschool. The experiences and interaction they have there have been incredibly positive. It's an accredited public preschool (hence, on-site therapies, nurse, great resources) in a conservative town (where happily no one complains if you mention God and they DO celebrate Christmas, Easter, and other "religious" holidays). I wouldn't think of changing schools.

However, if there is one flaw with this location, it is the drop-off system. There is not a drop-off lane, if you will, for parents to pull up and have their child met by a staff member and escorted inside like at so many preschools. At our school, you must unload yourself and your child from the car, walk them to the entrance, ring the bell, and wait for someone to let you into the locked secure entrance.

No big deal, right?

Not really. Unless you have other children. And so many of us do! Then, you face the added challenge of juggling one, two, or three ADDITIONAL children while trying to get your preschooler in the building. It's time-consuming. It also often involves waking up a sleeping child. Because it's such an awkward process, I unfortunately witness a lot of mommies doing something that makes me incredibly nervous... they leave the other child(ren) in the car.

While it's true that the school is in a secure location and it only takes a couple minutes to drop off the preschooler, this practice still makes me anxious beyond belief.

We are fortunate, now, to have bus service for both of our children. This eliminates the whole drop-off juggling act for me. But I certainly remember it!

This week, I plan to drive to the school at drop-off and/ or pick-up time once or twice. I don't need to be there for my own kids. I just want to be there to help these moms. I want to offer to watch their sleeping/buckled/in-the-car children while they run in. Mine is a familiar face around there, lest you think I'll be creeping people out. (And, for the record, I seem to be one of the most non-threatening looking people in the country-- seriously, I NEVER get pulled aside for security checks and, in fact, people who are with me are often "released" just because they're traveling at my side... )

I know it would have made MY life so much simpler had another trusted mommy volunteered to keep an eye on my vehicle while my daughter slept inside and I ran in the building...

Maybe I can make some other busy mama's morning just a touch easier.

(**Note: I will be aiming for a day with unpleasant weather- cold and/or rainy- because that makes it even tougher on Mom!)
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How about you? Is there a way you could make an everyday errand simpler or safer for someone?