Which one are you?

Back in September, friends whose children go to other schools would ask me gleefully: What’s it like at drop-off time? Are all the mums dolled up? (And most probably they were wondering how I fitted into the equation, in my usual scruffy get-up). I’d answer that there are a lot of glossy parents at the school gates, obviously not wanting to burst the bubble. But actually, now I’ve been going there a while, I’ve started to see things in a bit more detail. If you look around next time you do the school run, I bet you notice the same.

This was brought to my attention by a recent genius article in The Telegraph: School-Gate Mums, by Rosie Millard, who’d found a survey on Mumsnet on the topic.

Parents can be fitted into several categories. There’s practical mum, dolly mum (also known as Barbie mum), slovenly mum, serious dad and eco dad. You can guess the kinds of attributes that go with each type: sensible walking shoes, freshly salon blow-dried hair, pyjama bottoms, focused expression, fold-down bike.

There’s also late mum, wacky mum, pregnant mum, PTA mum and keep-fit mum.

I would also add emotional mum to the list, along with daydreaming mum and very nearly almost late, got there by the skin of her teeth mum. (And, yes, it is personal experience that led me to their addition).

No matter what school you frequent, you can be sure to find all of these parents, and more. A recent poll amongst friends confirmed the findings, although one mum, who used to live in Middlesbrough, said the schools round her area had had a higher proportion of pyjama mums than she’d ever seen elsewhere. I’ll have to keep the daydreaming in check, as I’m not too keen to join the ranks of pyjama wearing mum just yet.

There is also competitive mum, mum of disruptive child and immaculate mother with staff. Well, I’d hate to think I belonged to the first category; the second category arises probably once a week and the third- well, it’s ok to dream.