All area schools are underway now and we hope life will be settling down for families in the coming days and week.

The excitement runs high during a new school year but it is never easy making the transition from summer drop off and pick up lines or bus rides.

We heard the stories of frustration that come with first days of school, like one parent who spent two hours in pickup lines on Friday, missing an afternoon of work.

It’s not unusual for first-day pickups to take extra long. After school programs have not yet begun and many students don’t ride the bus on the first day, making for long lines.

It will get better.

There’s just no amount of planning and preparation the schools can do to make everything run smoothly. And pick-up lines these days have become something parents have to learn how to manage.

Once upon a time, more students rode buses and pickup lines just flowed on through. Today, parents wouldn’t think of arriving 15 minutes late to get their children so they park along streets and sidewalks and are waiting for the final bell to ring to make a quick getaway.

But new schools take adjustments, figuring out the best pick up approach. And it takes some time.  Monday was better than Friday, however, and by the end of this week it will be even better.