To want my kids driven to school this week?

[TheLostNights]

Neighbour has been helping out with school runs but it's a 20 minute walk to school and very cold in London this week. Aibu to drop them to the before school club in the car so they dont have to walk?
They are primary aged.

i wouldn’t drive my kids the distance of a 20 minute walk unless there was something medically wrong with them. I’m in Sweden and we’re having -12 tomorrow and I will still take my dogs out for 3x1h walks, you warm up as you walk. Kids will get themselves to where they need to get too. London is forecasted +3 degrees tomorrow, I think you might be overreacting a bit.

Agreed I’m not really sure what the issue is here. Not enough info- does neighbour have kids in the same school?

Or are you expecting school to open early for your children? If the school staff are not on duty early enough will your children be waiting in the cold for school to open?

Depending on where you are in London, you may have issues with snow and ice. In which case it would be faster and safer to walk.

Does your neighbour have kids?

Walk to school. It's colder than usual, but not so cold that walking is not a reasonable option.

Before you ask, I went for a walk of about 40 minutes this morning.

When I lived in Chicago -10 was the threshold where I used to drive rather than walk my toddler to daycare. The idea that school age kids can’t walk when it’s around 0 is ridiculous.

My dd has to wear shoes and not boots for school as well as knee socks and there are no lockers to store anything so if she walks there in wellies she has to carry them around wet all day so it's not the same as living in Chicago.

Offer your neighbour the lift too.

Surely you can transport your kids how you want?!

However they will be perfectly warm enough in decent hats gloves and scarfs and a proper coat. In fact they will likely be warmer walking than sitting in the car.

That's my experience as I leave home at 4.30am when it's -5° and I'm warmer walking!

If you want to drive your children to school then drive them to school.
London next week will not be cold enough that it this is a necessity, though.

And I don't understand what the neighbour has to do with any of this.
Unless you're thinking that if you they realise that you are able to take your own children to school they may well think you are being a CF to get them to do it in the first place?

People who say “well it’s colder in X and Y place” - my DP lived in Toronto for years where it gets very cold and snowy for months on end, but he says the air was so dry that the pavements and roads were never slippy the way they are here. So it may have been colder elsewhere but conditions are worse underfoot as the high humidity means more ice on surfaces.

Frosty walks to school are great and really clears the head before learning all day. If you're not going to take the neighbours dc then yes you are being unreasonable, it's not that cold.

It's a bit OTT but up to you. A lot of the parents in my DC's school have been driving them but I wouldn't and don't for a 20-minute walk. DC has a decent coat and long johns and it's been fine. I have taken the opportunity to teach them about dressing appropriately for the weather and we've enjoyed the frost and frozen puddles etc.

They are your children so you can do as you please but they won't come to any harm walking for 20 minutes in the cold. In fact it may do them a lot of good.

Totally unnecessary to drive them. They will have playtime outside at school anyway so should be adequately dressed for the weather. I worked as a primary school teacher in Switzerland for 18 years. Our Kindergarten students (5 and 6 year olds) would spend all afternoon outside one day a week, rain or shine (or snow!). They, and the teaching staff coped just fine. One year we had temperatures of about -20°C for about 3 weeks straight. The laurel bushes round the playground suffered but we still had outdoor play for morning and lunchtime playtime. The kids had a wonderful time making ice slides down the bank at the side of the playground.

It's fine to drive them, regardless of the weather. But if your bit of London is anything like mine, a 20 minute walk could take considerably longer by car!

As a dc we didn't have a car. I travelled by bus with a walk to /from bus stop.
I made it to 51 without freezing to death during those school years.

Are you saying you want to access school club and drop them on your way to work? That's fine and u could offer to take neighbours kids too if they want. Or are you expecting neighbour to drive your kids? Really that's their call.

I hate weird questions without context.

Safer to walk than drive imo. Mine are year 7 and 10 and will walk as usual, as they do in all weathers, and as I did too (double the distance).

My dd has to wear shoes and not boots for school as well as knee socks and there are no lockers to store anything so if she walks there in wellies she has to carry them around wet all day

She changes into her shoes when you get to school and you bring the wellies home with you?

You give her a bag to put them in and she hangs them on her peg with her coat?

Can she wear tights under her socks?

I wouldn't drive the equivalent of a 20 minutes walk unless there was an underlying medical issue.

But you won't be alone. The second it's a little chilly the schools I drive past to work, along with most streets in the vicinity, are swarmed with cars.

I've no idea what the backstory is but ywnbu although at my kids' primary you had to book them in for breakfast club because it was so busy

Do what you want, but also 👆- it’s not THAT cold if you’re wrapped up and walking briskly.