To think a 40 minute walk to school nursery is manageable?

[Heckythump1]

We are looking at pre-schools for September for an almost 4 year old. (We've just found out we have to move in a few weeks) we have a few choices but our favourite on paper is a school nursery 40 minutes walk away. Neither of us drive so we will have to walk whatever the weather, although there are buses for some of the journey.
We are visiting all options in the next week or so.
Am I being daft wanting to send them to a better place further away or should I send her to a closer one that I don't like as much?

No way. In the rain you'd need to be wrapped up in rain wear which then makes you heavier and slower. We have a 15 minute walk which is no fun in the rain.
Your child will be absolutely knackered doing your walk twice a day every day.

As an adult 40 minutes walk is fine and healthy. But for a 3/4 year old? Tired little legs and whinging will get to you both. Plus if it's busy road and raining/snowing/icy? Also what about dark mornings/evenings?

If she likes walking and you can rug her up with hats , mittens , water proofs etc. You could always try it out and see how it goes. Nothing to lose......

I actually have the prospect of walking dd (pushchair though ) to nursery for a bit next winter as dp is having surgery. It's about a 30 min walk with the pushchair ( 20 solo)

@Heckythump1 why are we all anti walking because we wouldn't allow our children to walk 40 minutes in the pissing rain or snow twice a day at 2 years old

We used to walk the 35 minutes there, an hour home to primary and nursery. It was lovely actually. You see more when you walk and can talk with friends. The journey home was along the canal so lots to see and do. A little shop for an ice cream in summer or a hot chocolate I need winter sometimes. At two and a half, we had a buggy with a rain cover but by four she walked. The children had spare clothes at school and good coats. They remember those days fondly - cygnets, boat rides, model boat battles, dragon racing etc.

I think it’s easy to underestimate their walking abilities when the harder bit is the time out of the day for the parent.

We are 1.5 miles from our chosen primary school. Mine are older now and some have left school but we are still doing the primary school run and have been for the last 15 years. We walk, if it’s raining we walk if it’s torrential the bus takes us half way.
But yes nobody seems to walk anymore and treat it like child abuse 😂
We walk by the river. We visit the conker trees, my children had good road sense from an early age. Scooters are fun. And tip tops as a treat in the summer.
My children have lovely memories of walking home. And it gives a great chance to talk and reconnect with them.
Wellies and a raincoat when it’s really bad has all their friends begging their parents to walk with us 😂

I just can’t afford 2.5 + hours a day doing the school run.

By any means of transport.

@TheRedBarrows neither could I
What a huge restriction on your freedom/capacity.
It only works if the OP isn't planning on ever working, volunteering, getting stuff done, having other children anything and/or both parents committing to learn to drive and take turns. A year would be ok, potentially. 7 years? nightmare

HJWT she's almost 4 not 2, huge difference!

Missnevermind... I do feel like I must be some sort of ogre mother for even considering walking to school 😂 same as your kids, my little girl has amazing road sense for her age, knows to stop at the kerb and can be trusted to walk/run/scoot on in front.

We actually already do a half hour walk to ballet and back after pre-school which she does fine.... she finds 'treasure' and balances on things and we get a bit of exercise too!
We have a longer walk up hill to swimming which we usually catch the bus for, I will get her to walk it from now on I think! Good practice!

I think you’d be setting yourself up for a whole world of hassle. My 3 year old enjoys walking back from nursery from time to time but it takes double the amount of time with her ( 20 mins instead of 10). Your 40 min walk would not be 40 mins. In the rain or when your child’s sick it’ll be miserable. I say this as someone with a 30 min walk as part of my commute. It’s lovely in the sun. Shit in the rain. It’s also pretty bleak doing it in darkness.

No chance would I do that with a small child.

You'll quickly resent it too, especially on the half day when you just open your front door and it's already time to get back.

What about when it's bad weather etc,

I think it will make you miserable.

I had to walk 20 mins one to nursery with my 2 year old. That was brisk walking on my part an even now when they are 4 it would have taken 30-45 mins on a good day. Kids get distracted easily, want to slow down, take a rest, jump in puddles or simply just refuse to walk. Add an uphill walk to it and it would be worse. Plus that would be 2 hours of your life gone just trying to do the pick and drop to nursery. IMO it's not worth it. Just find one closer to you. Just because you like this nursery doesn't mean that your kid will like it too. Visit the ones closer to you and see what the staff is like, are the kids happy and what other parents say about those nurseries. Don't go by the of-stead rating. You might end up liking the ones closer to you.

We will do lots of practice walks over the summer if we do choose this setting though

Walking in the summer when it's light and warm out is VERY different to walking in the dark, cold, wind and rain in the winter. Trudging up a hill carrying your child's bag, trying to manage an umbrella, and walking against wind and horizontal rain is utterly miserable as a one off, let alone doing it on a regular basis.

It's also not the same as doing it after your child has been at nursery all day. Plus, you're going to have to do it twice. Walk there, drop off DD, walk back (wet and cold in winter), get home, and then do the same thing all over again. Possibly in clothes that are still damp from the first walk. Then you'll need to dress DD (again, possibly in wet and damp clothes) and walk her home again after she's been busy at nursery for eight hours. She'll want her dinner and a bath, not to be walking home in the cold and rain.

I think you have a very idyllic idea of what it's going to be like. It's a bit like dog-walking - in summer I love it, going out with the dog in the sunshine, gorgeous views and fun walks across fields or at the beach. In winter, it can be utterly miserable. It's cold and wet, they get filthy and no matter what you wear, you come home either soaked or freezing cold, or both. Then you have to go back out again later in the day!

I've never driven and I'm perfectly capable of getting myself from place to place.

Can't get over how many people are so anti walking! No wonder half the planet is obese!

We don't drive at all and have no plans to.

I'm just saying Dec to end February it's not always great experience.

I had additional issue are because I have multiple children and nowhere near school to just wait - plus we're out of catchment so many school events like discos there's really not enough time to get home before you have to head back out to school.

If you’ve one child and family nearby that less an issue.

I think getting used to route then making sure you have decent coats and shoes– possibly spares as they don’t away dry over school day – you’ll soon get used to it.

I still think you’ll hate it by Christmas with long term making for a tired child and shit weather – but it will be completely doable.

Visit all available options. Your favourite on paper might not necessarily be the best for your child. 40 mins is a long walk

I recently did the walk for our local park to our home with ds. He is 6. He was fine because we could stop for regular breaks and he could collect 'treasure' but the weather was nice and warm and I don't think he would enjoy it as much in the dark and cold or wet. It's about a mile in distance and took round 40 mins with ds.

When we moved house, our only option was a school 45 minutes away; there was no other alternative! It has worked out completely fine, the first month or so was a drag, but once we were all used to it, everything was ok! Just make sure you have a mental list of games to play as you are going along, eye spy, etc. Could you use a pushchair if it came down to it?

The weather is awful this summer.

Pick the worst day forecast and give it a go.

There and back.

Well if you really have your heart set on it,maybe bus it there but you walk back.And collecting you walk and bus it back.

You wont have time to do anything though.

When my son was in playschool,he was in at 9.15 and off at 12.15.I barely had time to do shopping or housework.And his playschool was a 10 minute wall away.People underestimte how long things actually take.

It's not unmanageable at all, in fact it will probably be quite good for you and your kids. The human body can handle quite a lot of exercise.
It will seem quite hard on some days though, when it's cold and wet, or when you're all quite tired. I think you have to be aware of that, and I'm someone who walks between 8-12 miles every single day. I'm all for pushing kids not to be lazy but I 'd be prepared for a little bit of whinging, tbh.

The weather is awful this summer.
Pick the worst day forecast and give it a go.
There and back.

There and back twice. Two days and a half days in a row.

Have you really nothing else to do with your time?

The weather is awful this summer.

It's still not even close to what it'll be like on a cold winter's day though. Walking for nearly three hours a day (there and back, there and back) no matter what the weather is pretty grim.

In summer, even in the rain, it's not as cold, windy and bone-chillingly damp as it can be in the middle of winter. On a half day, you're barely going to have gotten home before you have to go back out again!

Your cycling fitness will improve really quickly, going on my experience of cycling with DS. I don't often have to push up hills these days, although I'm not in danger of being at the stop of any Strava segments!

I wouldn't rule a bike out because you're worried about fitness, put it that way. Even if you just biked on nasty weather days to minimise your time spent in the cold and wet.

Why is the English system like this? It’s crazy,here in Scotland you go to your catchment school, none of this visiting and obsessing over schools. No way would I walk this if there’s a neater option. It’s pre school not Harvard!

What if you forget something and have to go back for it! It would take hours.