Car Pool makes me want to rip my hair out of my head!

[Pennylane]

Or should I say, the people who make carpool so freakin complicated. It should be easy right, you get in a line and pick up or drop off your dc. If you need to get out of the car to get backpacks out of the trunk then you should park and not hold everyone else up. And yes, I see you driving by like you are going to park and then cutting in front of someone else you snake. Oh and how about all the people who park because they don't want to wait in the line and then the people in car pool can't get out onto the road because your cars are all lined up on the side. The buses can barely even get through. Ugh, day 3 and I am about to lose it

Ann

[ABO Mama]

Ugg, I know! Our school is like this too! If you have to get out of the car to help your kid out, you do not belong in the drop off lane!!! Thankfully, our busses go in a separate area, because there is no way they could fit.

[StantonHyde]

Our school pick up is a SCRUM!!!!!

[flashy09]

http://hotmessmom.com/hmms-un-edited-student-drop-off-etiquette-youre-welcome/

Just read this and your post reminded me of it!

[Ceepa]

Can I add my complaint about the parents who pull up and start unloading their kids right in front of the school doors (about the midpoint of the drop-off area) rather than pulling ahead to the end of the drop-off area to allow cars behind them to move forward and start unloading? If everyone used the drop-off lane efficiently, we could all get out of there so much more quickly.

[Pennylane]

http://hotmessmom.com/hmms-un-edited-student-drop-off-etiquette-youre-welcome/

Just read this and your post reminded me of it!

:hysterical:

Thank you for that! It totally summed up everything I am feeling right now. I am printing these off to hand out tomorrow. I'll have plenty of time BECAUSE EVERYONE KEEPS GETTING OUT OF THEIR CAR AT CARPOOL!

Ann

[Pennylane]

Can I add my complaint about the parents who pull up and start unloading their kids right in front of the school doors (about the midpoint of the drop-off area) rather than pulling ahead to the end of the drop-off area to allow cars behind them to move forward and start unloading? If everyone used the drop-off lane efficiently, we could all get out of there so much more quickly.

Amen sister! Pull forward people! It is not going to hurt your precious little angel to walk 30 feet back to the door.

Ann

[JBaxter]

OMG the Principal went after a dad today. He got out of his truck to open the back door and lift his kid out She was waving her arm and pointing to the visitor parking area. I can say one thing don't MESS with her drop off line. Went we signed the kids up we got drop off instructions with PARENTS ARE NOT PERMITTED TO EXIT THE CAR in bold.

[TwinFoxes]

Haven't started K, but our pre-K had it down to a science. Our director would take away drop off privileges. People behaved! I am worried about K...I've heard bad things.

[niccig]

The other day, DH had a mom get out of the car, get a box from the trunk, walk up to the school building, put the box down, talked to a few people, THEN came back to her car. She made a "sorry had to drop off something" excuse to DH who was waiting to get out of the carpool line as DS was already out. DH told her "then go park and walk it in. Don't hold up everyone in the carpool lane."

Then yesterday, 2 parents had walked their child into school and were walking back to their car. A woman in a car was trying to get onto the road that goes past the school, which is difficult at school drop off times. She wasn't a parent, just someone who lives close by a school. She leans out of her car and starts cussing at everyone, calling them c**ts and f****ts as she lives here and wants to pull out. The dad got stuck into her, a parent takes photos of her car, it goes onto our neighborhood facebook page but the license plate is too blurry. Another parent recognizes the car and gets her license plate information later that day. Formal complaint made to school district and local police...I'm waiting to hear updates when we go to school tomorrow..

Oh and we live in one of the nicer neighborhoods in our city..so this behavior was very unexpected..it's made quite a stir on the local facebook page.

[BunnyBee]

Why don't schools have a few extra cops directing traffic while everyone gets routines down? People aren't going to cut off the line with a police officer there. Our old school had all of the admin out and would turn away line jumpers, so they'd have to drive allllll the way around and get at the end of the line.

[Pennylane]

The other day, DH had a mom get out of the car, get a box from the trunk, walk up to the school building, put the box down, talked to a few people, THEN came back to her car. She made a "sorry had to drop off something" excuse to DH who was waiting to get out of the carpool line as DS was already out. DH told her "then go park and walk it in. Don't hold up everyone in the carpool lane."

Then yesterday, 2 parents had walked their child into school and were walking back to their car. A woman in a car was trying to get onto the road that goes past the school, which is difficult at school drop off times. She wasn't a parent, just someone who lives close by a school. She leans out of her car and starts cussing at everyone, calling them c**ts and f****ts as she lives here and wants to pull out. The dad got stuck into her, a parent takes photos of her car, it goes onto our neighborhood facebook page but the license plate is too blurry. Another parent recognizes the car and gets her license plate information later that day. Formal complaint made to school district and local police...I'm waiting to hear updates when we go to school tomorrow..

Oh and we live in one of the nicer neighborhoods in our city..so this behavior was very unexpected..it's made quite a stir on the local facebook page.

Oh my gosh, that is insane! I watched a woman that drove past every single car in line today and pulled right in front of the first person!! I could not believe it. I would never in a million years have the nerve to do that.

Ann

[bisous]

Wow, I didn't realize getting out of the car was so frowned upon! Not that I do it, I really don't have to, thank heavens! But it seems like EVERYONE else does. It doesn't really bother me, though. It just seems to be the way things roll. If it is expressly against the rules then I understand why that would be super frustrating! Our drop off lines are actually really, really manageable. PARKING is what is atrocious. I live about a mile away from school and joke that I only have to drive half way there because I have to park so far away. TBH, this is one of the main reasons why my (mature, rule abiding) 6yo is in a booster, which he can undo on his own, instead of his RN car seat which I need to unbuckle!

[bisous]

I've also never seen anyone cut! I see lots of people fail to pull up on the car line and that is annoying. But cutting. That is crazy. Maybe that's part of attending a small school where everyone knows everyone else. Nobody would DARE. They'd be shunned, lol.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

http://hotmessmom.com/hmms-un-edited-student-drop-off-etiquette-youre-welcome/

Just read this and your post reminded me of it!

OMG, thank you for posting that!!!! I'm sure i will be so this blogger lady in 2 years! Nothing maddens me more than people who think their time is more valuable than other people's, who have absolutely no shame in holding up a line of cars so they can do something trivial. I cannot believe people actually get out and walk their kid out in the dropoff lane!. And yes, if i saw someone breaking those drop off rules in workout clothes that would make me even less sympathetic (um, if you have time to go workout after dropping off your kid at school, take the time to park the car so that all the other people who are rushing to work can get to work on time).

i have a number of friends who said they dreaded having "yard duty" in first week of school bc parents would just get so out of control and start flipping them off when they were told they were violating the rules. um, way to set an example for your child on the first day of school.

there are a TON of cops out this whole week..lots of writing tickets for parking in no parking area, etc. i have to go through 3 different school zones on my way to work and instead of taking me 30 minutes it took 50 minutes bc of all the insanity!! i cannot believe how it's gonna be when DS starts school. if we are still in the area we will definitely be walking him the whole way, at least the first week.

[mom2binsd]

How about the idiots on their phones during drop off....

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

[oneplustwo]

Or should I say, the people who make carpool so freakin complicated. It should be easy right, you get in a line and pick up or drop off your dc. If you need to get out of the car to get backpacks out of the trunk then you should park and not hold everyone else up. And yes, I see you driving by like you are going to park and then cutting in front of someone else you snake. Oh and how about all the people who park because they don't want to wait in the line and then the people in car pool can't get out onto the road because your cars are all lined up on the side. The buses can barely even get through. Ugh, day 3 and I am about to lose it

Ann

You have just described our elementary school. The district had some major changes to the elementary schools and also changed bus routes and rules a few years ago, so now more people than ever drive their kids to and from school. It is a zoo, and this is WITH a person directing traffic and WITH one of the teachers on duty to help direct traffic and enforce the rules. The teacher took to sticking a line of cute stuffed dogs in the traffic circle last spring to stop parents from cutting through the circle instead of waiting their turn. Who wants to run over cute little doggies in a line? It worked. Of course, it only solves one of the many many many pickup and drop off violations that take place daily. I'm not looking forward to this part of the school year, which starts next week!

OP, you have a lot of commiseration here!

[ellies mom]

Now you all know why my kids ride the bus. And not only that, missing the bus warrants a super early bedtime. I simply cannot stand the drop-off line because there is always that one parent. The bus comes about 15 minutes before they want parents to start dropping off kids so it works out better on the days I have to be somewhere anyways.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I love the stuffed animal solution!!

My only drop off line experience was so smooth and filled with rule followers- sounds like I got lucky!!

[JBaxter]

Our principal was dressing down another one this morning pointing to the visitors parking lot. Seems to be Dad's trucks that are the issue.

[o_mom]

Our principal was dressing down another one this morning pointing to the visitors parking lot. Seems to be Dad's trucks that are the issue.

I wonder if they have extended cab trucks with suicide doors where you have to open the front door to be able to open the rear door.

[JBaxter]

I wonder if they have extended cab trucks with suicide doors where you have to open the front door to be able to open the rear door. Todays looked that way Yesterdays ( also a truck also a dad but getting out on the driver side not the passenger) was the crew cab with 4 doors. I see many kindy parents walking kids in I'm assuming they cant exit their car seats and open doors themselves. Car drop off starts at 7:10 and ends at 7:30 ( ish) after 7:35 you have to walk your kid in and sign them in the office. Last years drop off went like clock work. Im guessing these are new parent and the beginning of the year.

[trales]

Ours is run by a bunch of volunteer retirees who must have been ex drill sargents, there is no messing around and breaking the rules. The thing moves along. They have vests and flags, at first I thought is was total overkill, but now I get it.

[Pennylane]

Ours is run by a bunch of volunteer retirees who must have been ex drill sargents, there is no messing around and breaking the rules. The thing moves along. They have vests and flags, at first I thought is was total overkill, but now I get it.

I love this ! Wish I could find a group to take over.

Ann

[AnnieW625]

After reading all of that I am soo glad our school has a nice parking lot and we don't have a drop off line:). Some parents who used to have kids at our school have commented the one thing that they miss about our school is that they have a parking lot instead of drop off. You get to know the parents better as well.

The worst part if drop off is when people like the religious ed. director park on the street right in front of the drive way instead of actually parking in the parking lot, which is further from her office. I hate this because if you are in the right lane you have to get into the middle lane to turn into the parking lot vs. just staying in the right hand lane.

[nfowife]

http://hotmessmom.com/hmms-un-edited-student-drop-off-etiquette-youre-welcome/

Just read this and your post reminded me of it!

That is awesome!! I'm very fortunate that we decided to go with the bus this year and it is convenient for us. I hate doing drop off and pick up. Yay bus!!

[anonomom]

I hear you! We don't have carpool at dd2's preschool but the drop off situation there is so bad I'm seriously considering switching preschools when DS goes. We have parents that refuse to park in a parking space, instead choosing to park on the sidewalk in front of the building. They don't seem to care that they're blocking all the people in the actual spots in. I'd love it if the school switched to carpool instead!

[BabbyO]

Well, as the mom who rarely will do drop off...I sure the heck wish someone would explain the carpool/drop off line rules/procedure to me. My son started 4K yesterday. DH and I dropped him off but typically his sitter will be dropping him off. Busing is not an option for us because we live less than 1/2 mile from the school and our district won't bus kids who live that close.

Anyway, I noticed that the line was a cluster. DH wanted to just stop in the line (the parking lot is somewhere near the front of the line, too small, and impossible to get to without cutting in front of people in line). I told him, "No, don't stop. I'll just grab Stachio and take him in." The complete lack of order and no communication with new parents on how this is supposed to work led to DH missing dropping of Stachio on his first day of school - we had planned to park but could get no where near the parking lot. I feel terrible for DH. I'm mad at the school....how could this procedure not be communicated to parents? I mistakenly thought that one could easily figure out what to do once there...but that wasn't the case. I totally understand how someone may have cut in front of others.

IDK - I'm just saying in cases where the procedure isn't communicated, or staff is not explaining what needs to be done, you need to cut people some slack. I may only drop my kid off, on a day that I have off and may be considering going to work out afterward, that doesn't make me less busy than you...just less experienced because I don't do it every day.

[mom2binsd]

On the first day of school it's always a cluster as so many more parents are driving kids due to large amounts of school supplies being brought in and wanting to see the kids off. We had to park in the neighborhood across the street, we normally walk but I had to go right to work and it was 90 degrees and didn't want to get sweaty.

I think most people here are complaining about the habitual idiots in the carpool lane.

Does your school have a website with drop off instructions? Ours does, but the idiots who screw it up don't seem to read that or the hundreds of messages they send out....or they choose to ignore the teachers directing them to pull forward or the enormous sign that the patrols are holding that say PULL FORWARD.

I don't worry about first days, but after that it's time to get serious about the drop off lane!

[Dream]

I didn't know that you're not allowed to get down from the car. My DD is in Kindergarten so I have to get off the car and unbuckel her so she can get down. Does this mean I can't use the car pool lane?

[MamaMolly]

Second week of school and I got to see three folks cut the pick up line. Party time!! :irked:

[MamaMolly]

I didn't know that you're not allowed to get down from the car. My DD is in Kindergarten so I have to get off the car and unbuckel her so she can get down. Does this mean I can't use the car pool lane?

IME there is always someone there (school staff) opening the doors who helps the little ones get their buckles off and on if needed.

[buddyleebaby]

Carpool is a mess at our school this year too. Part of it is new parents who ignored or didn't read the very clear directions that have been sent home three times now. Part of it is the fact that the kids are still getting used to what to do and move a bit slowly. And part of it is just people being jerks and the school having to correct them everyday.
They split the elementary school into two buildings. One is k-2, the other 3-6. They are on the same campus, separated by two huge parking lots and a forest area. They both get out at the same time. So if you have kids in both schools you actually need to make your way through two lines.
Whichever line you choose to do first, you are then supposed to exit the campus and enter the other line where it starts...like all the other parents picking up their kids. But some parents have taken to cutting through campus and then trying to enter the second line at it's halfway point, effectively blocking people who have already picked up their kids and are trying to exit from doing so, which brings the line to a complete halt because no one can get in or out while they are sitting there. If they get in, they cut in front of 30+ cars that are sitting on the highway waiting to enter. It is a MESS. Yesterday was the first day I saw a teacher put their foot down and make someone move.

[buddyleebaby]

IME there is always someone there (school staff) opening the doors who helps the little ones get their buckles off and on if needed.

My kindergartener can buckle/unbuckle himself but I think this depends on the school. Our school specifically says that teachers may not help buckle/unbuckle or open/close doors. If your child can not unbuckle themselves you are supposed to park in the lot and then walk the child over to the car pool entrance. At pick-up time the parents can get out of the car and help. AND this year they are only loading one car at a time. It took me ten minutes to get through the upper elementary line and 40 to get through the lower. Not the parents fault, though, because there is no other option for pick up.

[mom2binsd]

At our school, parents are not to exit the vehicles in the drop off lane, other cars are driving by from behind and it's dangerous. Teachers are not always available to help unbuckle.

In your situation unless she can open the door herself and unbuckle herself I would park and and walk her in. The drop off lane is meant to keep moving, if you get out and help it slows the whole thing down.

[BabbyO]

I've looked at our website and through all the info sent home...no info on the dropoff line. Our school is poorly set up as well since the only (super tiny) lot that people can park in is at the front of the dropoff line. In fact, you'd have to bypass all the cars, then make a right turn in front of the lead vehicles to get to the parking lot. Dumb design. I guess I'm just glad the sitter usually does dropoff and has the routine figured out.

[crayonblue]

Ahhh, yes. The car pool line. Made my blood pressure go up every single day last year. Two years ago we had a very, very strict principal who ran the car pool line and there were NO shenanigans. Last year new principal and all hell broke lose.

Let's see. I saw people cruise right past the entire line and cut right into the front. I was stuck behind a mom parked in the car pool line while she did her makeup. I gave her a friendly beep and she flipped me off. Nice. I saw several people drive down the bike lane when trying to get into the school in order to bypass the line. One drunk mom parked her car right in the middle of the parking lot, blocking multiple cars. She went into the school leaving her preschoolers buckled in the car. When confronted she went ballistic. I was driving behind a lady whose two kids were jumping around her van, running from the back to the front. I called the cops on that one.

Good grief. I absolutely dreaded drop off every single morning. Car pooling this year and I do bus pick up. YAY!!!!!

[o_mom]

I think most people here are complaining about the habitual idiots in the carpool lane.




Yes! The first day and even the first week, I understand. We have been back to school for a month. They have had to do this twice a day for 19 school days already. On top of that every child in our district is bused if they want, even if they are one door away from the school, so there are only a few situations that they *must* drive them.

[ABO Mama]

I didn't know that you're not allowed to get down from the car. My DD is in Kindergarten so I have to get off the car and unbuckel her so she can get down. Does this mean I can't use the car pool lane?

Yes, this means that you are banned from the drop off lane. If an adult has to get out of the car, go park your car.

And yes, the line was all !!!!ed up today.

[zukeypur]

Best blog post in blogger history! Our previous school district was a cluster. The elementary, middle, and ninth grade campuses all started at the same time, with high school starting 15 minutes later. Traffic was a MESS with small roads, no lights or cops directing traffic, and changing routes due to long overdue construction. The teachers were too busy talking to each other and some of the parents while the rest of us were left to wait. I've seen a mom park in the middle of both lanes in a crosswalk, get out of the car, get her newborn out of the baby bucket, and attempt to walk into the school. This led to a "discussion" between the belligerent new mother and the PE teacher, when then resulted in a "drop off and pick up RULES paper" being sent home. I've also seen an off duty officer park and block an entire lane of traffic just because he could. There were people parking in the handicap spots to wait for their non-handicap kids to get out of school (I say this because I know their kids and know they are not handicap) while my disabled child had to walk further to get to the car.

Our new school system has each school starting at a different time (elementary at 7:50, high school at 8:45), and our elementary has older kids in fluorescent vests lined up at the curb of the drop off lane to help kids out of cars before school. Kinder gets out 10 minutes early, and first grade gets out 5 minutes early. Everyone else waits sitting quietly outside under covering at the front door waiting for the name to be called out by the lady with a bullhorn. She tells them which of 6 stations to stand at to wait (with a teacher by his/her side) for the parent to pull up. The whole school is empty with 10 minutes of school letting out.

[BunnyBee]

I didn't know that you're not allowed to get down from the car. My DD is in Kindergarten so I have to get off the car and unbuckel her so she can get down. Does this mean I can't use the car pool lane?

That's why we used 5-pt harness seats until they could buckle seat belts. At our old school, if you needed to unbuckle your kid, you parked and walked.

[Pennylane]

I didn't know that you're not allowed to get down from the car. My DD is in Kindergarten so I have to get off the car and unbuckel her so she can get down. Does this mean I can't use the car pool lane?


No, you shouldn't be using car pool. If your dc can't unbuckle, you should park. At our school they are not allowed to unbuckle children.

Ann

[JBaxter]

I didn't know that you're not allowed to get down from the car. My DD is in Kindergarten so I have to get off the car and unbuckel her so she can get down. Does this mean I can't use the car pool lane?

Nope if she cant exit her car seat & car herself you park , unbuckle and walk her to the door or our principal will meet you at your car in the drop off lane ( with her little hand held stop sign and direct you to the parking area for the next day.

[bisous]

Dream, maybe it depends? I see parents do this every day in our carpool line and nobody says anything. My kids can exit the vehicle on their own so I haven't needed to do this but didn't realize it was taboo until reading this thread! Now I'm sitting here wondering if everyone is violating the rules or not. It does slow down the drop off lane but since I didn't know it wasn't generally done it hasn't annoyed me yet, lol.

[Dream]

No, you shouldn't be using car pool. If your dc can't unbuckle, you should park. At our school they are not allowed to unbuckle children.

Ann

Thanks everyone, good to know. Today was the second day so I've been walking up to the school with her and didn't use the car pool, which I'm glad now.

[belovedgandp]

Our principal sends how a full color aerial photo of our school with arrows and notes drawn on it to indicated traffic flow. The flip side has a full page of bullet points clarifying what should and should not happen at drop off and pick up.

Final note is "Patience and flexibility; life skills for everyone"

Yes, people still f it up though. But the flyer makes me smile every year.

[AlbrightRC]

Today I went to pick up my son from K. Two or three cars were at the end of the car loop and there was a huge space between them and the cars in front. I went around the cars at the end and parked behind the front cars. Yes I get out to buckle or unbuckle my son. If the cars in front of me haven't moved by the time i'm done I pull out around them. And yes I belong in the car drop off lane not in a parking spot.

[jacksmomtobe]

Today was classic bad behavior in our drop off zone. This morning a Mom parks, gets out of the car to let her dd out then gets back in her car and sits there a few minutes to watch her dd go into school then does a U turn right in front of the principal. Last year our Principal was about to lose it with all the unsafe behavior. Then in the afternoon it was rainy at pick up. This nanny decides to cross 2 kids in the middle of traffic so I roll down my window to explain that the kids are supposed to cross by the crossing guard and she responds well other people did it too. I said that does not matter it is not safe. There are always people trying to drive through that area as it is a neighborhood st and they often are not as safe as they should be. It kills me these people who don't think the rules apply to them. I typically park and walk over to school but I had one sick child with me.

[oneplustwo]

Our principal sends how a full color aerial photo of our school with arrows and notes drawn on it to indicated traffic flow. The flip side has a full page of bullet points clarifying what should and should not happen at drop off and pick up.

Final note is "Patience and flexibility; life skills for everyone"

Yes, people still f it up though. But the flyer makes me smile every year.

I love your principal's final note. The principals at our elementary and middle schools do the same, except instead of an aerial photo they have a detailed sketch of the school grounds, buildings, streets, parking lots, etc.


Today was classic bad behavior in our drop off zone. This morning a Mom parks, gets out of the car to let her dd out then gets back in her car and sits there a few minutes to watch her dd go into school then does a U turn right in front of the principal. Last year our Principal was about to lose it with all the unsafe behavior. Then in the afternoon it was rainy at pick up. This nanny decides to cross 2 kids in the middle of traffic so I roll down my window to explain that the kids are supposed to cross by the crossing guard and she responds well other people did it too. I said that does not matter it is not safe. There are always people trying to drive through that area as it is a neighborhood st and they often are not as safe as they should be. It kills me these people who don't think the rules apply to them. I typically park and walk over to school but I had one sick child with me.

Our school principals sound like a broken record saying the reason for all the drop-off and pick-up rules is to keep everyone safe first and foremost, and secondly to keep things flowing. And yet, our middle school principal had to send out an email reminding people yet again not to use the school parking lot for drop-off, adding that two students and one teacher had near misses being hit by cars who were doing just that. This occurred just days after a 7th grader biking to school was hit by a van that ran a red light, a block from school. The student is fine now but come on, please just follow the rules! Our town also has "slow down" days the first week of school each year, with extra police patrols and electronic signs reminding drivers to slow down and watch out for kids.

[elliput]

Yesterday, I saw a car turn the corner at a crosswalk while the guard was in the intersection with kids. The driver then parked in the yellow-zone of the curb. The guard, another parent and I all just stared incredulously. A serious WTF moment.

[Dream]

Dream, maybe it depends? I see parents do this every day in our carpool line and nobody says anything. My kids can exit the vehicle on their own so I haven't needed to do this but didn't realize it was taboo until reading this thread! Now I'm sitting here wondering if everyone is violating the rules or not. It does slow down the drop off lane but since I didn't know it wasn't generally done it hasn't annoyed me yet, lol.

You're right. Yesterday DDs teacher sent a form to be filled out for parents who like to volunteer at "stop, drop & go" and for kids first grade and up a parent volunteer will open the door of the vehicle for kids to get out and for Pre-k & K a parent volunteer will even walk the child to the school building. PreK and K are in one building and have their own parking lot, where as other grades are in a different building and this takes place on the road. So I have a feeling they allow parents to get out and unbuckle the kids. I highly doubt there's very many Pre schoolers and Kindergartners who can unbuckle them selves.

[SnuggleBuggles]

You're right. Yesterday DDs teacher sent a form to be filled out for parents who like to volunteer at "stop, drop & go" and for kids first grade and up a parent volunteer will open the door of the vehicle for kids to get out and for Pre-k & K a parent volunteer will even walk the child to the school building. PreK and K are in one building and have their own parking lot, where as other grades are in a different building and this takes place on the road. So I have a feeling they allow parents to get out and unbuckle the kids. I highly doubt there's very many Pre schoolers and Kindergartners who can unbuckle them selves.

I taught ds2 to do his 5pt harness when he was 4. Very handy. :). He's in k and the teacher opens and closes his door but he unbuckles and gets out.

[Dream]

I'm sure there are kids who start doing it at a very young age but I don't think its the majority. I see my DD2 doing this maybe in a year or so as she wants to do it even now and try to buckle the top one, she really tries. But not my first DD. In a way I'm ok with that, as if she knew how to unbuckle she'll be getting in and out of the moving van when ever she wants to get something.