Uber – a four-letter word?

The online cab-calling company Uber has tempted parents if they can’t make the school run – after all, you can track your child’s trip on your cellphone, if you have the time. Various safety precautions are in place: the name of the driver and the model a

Most parents can manage a pre-workday school drop off, but the daily afternoon pickup can become a thorn in a working parent’s side, especially if Junior only attends half days. Celeste Macleod Barlow, specialist recruiter at Happy Helpers Nanny Placement Agency in Cape Town, laments at the lack of options. “It is not uncommon for moms to resign from work so that they can spend their afternoons transporting children from point A to point B,” she says. “This is not done out of choice, but because how else does your child get to their matches?”

But as the alternative is being holed up behind the high, isolating walls of suburbia, parents have started investigating creative ways of carting the kids around.

A DRIVER

It’s a reality in South Africa that most parents work, and most children’s caregivers don’t drive. A full time, dedicated driver is out of the financial reach of most families, but if you have the extra R5 000 per month – plus a spare car – this is an option for you.

Domestic workers are often employed as caregivers to children as well as housekeepers. When you employ your nanny at the beginning of your child’s life, you may consider hiring somebody who already has a drivers’ licence. She may, however, command a higher salary – starting between R5 000 and R6 500 per month depending on experience, according to Celeste.

“A candidate who has a driver’s licence does not always come with a higher price tag, however she may have aspirations of becoming an au pair,” Celeste adds. “Bear in mind anyone driving children is going to need a minimum of two years’ daily driving experience. There is just no way that a new driver can be expected to cope with peak traffic plus three kids fighting over whose turn it is to look out the window.”

AU PAIR

An au pair is a person, usually a student, who collects children from school and then cares for them until the parents return from work. “As parents only need this service from 2pm to 6pm, how does she earn a full salary?” Celeste points out. As a result, you can look at paying a higher rate than a domestic worker, for fewer hours worked, and it can get expensive pretty quickly. According to Au Pair SA ( aupairsa.co.za), usual rates for an au pair range between R45 and R80 per hour.

UPSKILL

If you have the perfect helper in your home, she may be able to grow her skills as the needs of your family change. Consider investing in driving lessons and a basic but safe secondhand car – this might just be the answer to all your lifting needs. The initial investment is a hefty one, of both time and money: A vehicle for about R25 000, and driving lessons for six months, learner’s licence tests, photographs and the cost of the actual driving test add up to another R6 000. But once you are comfortable that your children’s caregiver can drive safely (let her practise daily for many months), this option is now more affordable than the others. Mother-of-two Gina Andersen says, “I waited until our helper had completed her first trip from Gauteng to the Eastern Cape and back in ‘her’ car before I felt comfortable letting her drive the children home from school. It was scary to learn to trust her driving at first, but now it feels like second nature.”

OUTSOURCE THE PROFESSIONALS

Children’s school transport companies are plentiful – you’ll see them strewn across the parking lots of many schools at pickup time, ranging from a mom-and-pop-shop operation transporting just a few children to outfits complete with fleets of identically branded cars.

A top-of-the-range option here is Tiffini Wissing’s Old School Cool ( oldschoolcool.co.za or 011 262 2511), which has been in business since 2009 and prides itself on providing a safe and professional child lifting service. Their Cool (Kids’) Cabs are all fitted with onboard cameras and live tracking systems so that managers can track trips at the head office in real time.

Tiffini is passionate about safety, so her drivers are all women with at least five years’ driving experience, as well as childcare experience. They are extensively trained, vetted before being allowed on the road and accompanied by a senior driver for the first month of their employment.

Parents, nannies and children are introduced to three drivers who will be allocated to them. “This way, there is continuity of service. So unlike when your au pair is ill, you know your child will still be fetched by a woman she knows,” says Tiffini.

Old School Cool counts babies as young as four months among its customers, when nannies and babies are transported to weekly play groups. Unlike some cab companies, a Cool Kids’ Cab will not leave a child behind if he cannot be found at school, but the driver will instead contact the parents and wait and search until the child is found. Old School Cool also stringently applies car seat safety regulations, which specify that a car seat must be used for children under 12 years and less than 36kg. They also offer weekly car seat installation tips and guidelines on their Facebook page.

Cost varies here depending on distance and usage – one trip a day of between 5km and 10km will set you back R2 500 a month, as a guideline. Always ask about vehicle and passenger liability insurance, service records, safety of drivers, car seat policy, and to meet all drivers before you employ a cab company. YB