To expect a 10 year old to manage a 15 minute walk

[listsandbudgets]

DD does an after school activity. I usually pick her up and walk her to it unless the weather is horrible in which case we get a taxi. Another girl in the year above also does the same activity and yesterday her mum asked if I'd be able to pick her up and take her with dd. I said that was fine but unless weather bad we'd be walking. Her mum said "Assumed you'd taje a taxi or drive, don't think she'd manage the walk I'll make other arrangements" and walked off.

The girl in question is in the school gym and net ball team so I've no reason to believe she has any physical problems.

AIBU to think mother was being rude and her dd could easily manage such a walk?

How depressing this is.

2lol - i know what you mean. Most people could walk it but a lot of people wouldnt. Just looking at all the cars at my dcs school for example. The majority of them live a 10/15 min walk from school but instead of walking they drive.

My 3 year old does the school run a total of 20mins there and back no problem. Sometimes we stop at a shop so it's longer.

What is wrong with some people?!

YANBU to privately think she's being a bit precious. But it's her business, and her choice.
Mine could happily do a 15 minute walk from age 2 and did so regularly.

Some people are just lazy and I think people who always drive get a skewed view of how far things are. I regularly see children driven 300m to 500m to parties/after school activiites or to our very-small-catchment-area school. I just think "I know where you live, you lazy git".

I expect my 5 year old to walk 5km if need be. I certainly expect 45 mins without complaining. I also expect my 2 year old to make a good attempt -at least half an hour before I will carry her. We don't have a car.

34% of adults walk less than 1 hour/week (so less than 10 minutes a day).
Another 43% walk 1-2 hours/week.
So most adults don't walk if they can avoid it.

My 2 1/2 yr olds managed a 2.5 mile walk the other day with no problems or moaning so I'd imagine the Mum is being utterly precious about her 10yr old!

That's so bizarre.

Pitiful the number of people not walking due to "safety worries". They would be with adults ffs. The more children in cars the less safe it gets for those walking.

I would walk my kids that far even if the weather was horrible.
It amazes me how previous some people are about walking and about weather too!

YANBU. My DS was walking 35 mins to school every morning from reception at 4. If there are no physical problems, it won't make their legs fall off.

Most adults wouldn't walk that far this is one of those things that reminds me London is a parallel universe to the rest of the country (house prices being the other). Everyone adult I know walks at least that far 2 or more times a day. To/from tube & train stations. You can often walk further in 15 minutes than you could drive!
My 2.5 y/o can manage a 15 minute walk - we're at the stage now where I'm constantly pushing an empty buggy around just in case he gets tired.
Strange.

I don't drive, and we own a dog - life is full of 15min+ walks...

We have noticed that when the kids go with friends to town or the park or the zoo - whatever - on a weekend, the friends are always wanting to go for a milkshake, have a sit down, etc etc - after half an hour tops - seems really odd, we would never get anything done!

My 7 yr old DD has had to walk 2 miles with her 15 yr old aunt, when she picks her up from school. One village to another. She manages just fine. DD has quite strong legs, 15 mins would be nothing to her.

How will all precious snowflakes who can't walk a short distance when supervised by an adult get themselves safely to secondary school? Or to town when they're 13? Or safely navigate the streets alone driving a car at 17?

Its learning road safety from practise with adults that keeps them alive through their teens.

She must have the wrong idea about how far it is surely; think the person who suggested that it must be a lit further by car due to a one way system or pedestrian area must have it.

If she does have the distance wrong due to always having driven, she could also be thinking her DD couldn't walk it in the time available - does the activity start 15 mins after school ends? If she thinks it's twice as far as it really is she must be thinking you'd have to be an Olympic speed walker to make it in time...

How far is it?

I'm a slow walker so what is 15 minutes to you as a regular walker would likely take me more than half an hour. So that's an hour of walking there and back. If it's an active club then I wouldn't expect my 10yo to do an hour of walking on top of a school day and an active club.

We live 15 minute walk to town centre & are among very few residents who routinely walk there.

Most the adults I ever see walking are with dogs or children off to school. Without dog-walkers I reckon those stats on average minutes spent walking would be halved. I honestly sometimes think maybe dogs should be standard issue pets to every household (without phobias, asthma or allergy) to get people off their lazy bottoms.

I knew a guy who walked his DDs to school, and openly worried that the older DD would become obese (like her mom). Mom developed mobility problems, had to learn to drive, thereafter always drove the family to school. Bizarre to watch them actively self-sabotage like that. The oldest DD is now almost as fat as mom & the 2nd DD is possibly over-fed: not fat but at 11yo nearly as tall as her dad. Dad waits at bus stop with eldest at secondary, btw, she was told it's illegal for her to go anywhere alone until some-teen-age.

YANBU

How strange!

Some people are weird about walking.

DS1 will walk for hours (he's 4 - he would walk a mile into town at 1 though!), and I carry DS2 (1) on my shoulders when his little legs get tired - he's not as good a walker as DS1 was.

DS1's best mate doesn't walk anywhere, and when he came round to play was huffing and puffing, asking how much further (even though he does sports, and runs around like any other kid - and we had the one year old so weren't exactly hurrying) 10 minutes into the 20 minute walk home!

I'm stunned by the adult walking figures. I walk for 2 hours a day because of the dogs and I don't think of myself as being particularly healthy. The DC get dragged along when possible.

Is this for real? Astonishing. At my DDs secondary school they do. 15 mile sponsored walk every Sept and the new year 7s are expected to join in.