1 hour 10 minutes total daily walk to school

[Itsneversimpleisit]

Is it a lot?

Twenty minutes there in the morning, twenty minutes home.
Twenty minutes there in the afternoon, twenty minutes walk back

With a 5 year old

Is it a lot or average?

I walked to school and back twice a day, 35 minutes each way at that age.

My mother didn’t come though, I walked with older kids.

I was at my largest ever when I walked 40 minutes to work. It's mainly about what you eat.

@Notmyuser "- I managed a similar commute in a moon boot with a broken ankle."

I'm collecting Mumsnet Tropes. So far this is tying for first place with the poster who referenced picnics of a bottle of tap water and a margarine sandwich.

Sounds like a great way to include daily exercise. When I did this, as my son got older, we used to learn times tables on the way there too. Later on, it became the perfect time to chat.

I used to do the same thing. Your maths is slightly out, it's 1 hour 20 minutes, but I think it's perfectly reasonable. You won't lose weight unless you maybe run the route when you're childless. Even then maybe not.

It's absolutely normal. You get used to it after the first few weeks.

Be warned that the walk home often ends up not with a slow and tired child, but with one doing dog miles with their friends if you're anywhere that involves walking past green spaces or playgrounds.

Because dogs shouldn't be around schools
Many children dislike dogs
Many like them a little too much and get them excited
Subjecting other people's kids to your dog because you are too lazy to do a separate walk is so selfish

My 7 year old been doing 30 mins there and back since she was 4...most of gef class doing it too. Very normal and great education for your child. I love our walk...we seeing the seasons change, learning road sense and making friends with others and my child knows his to get home. We talk about the day. It's the one thing I remember as a child...the walk home.

Is it doable? Yes
would I want to? No

😂

That sounds very healthy. Unfortunately not that common as everyone is so car addicted. Could you look at cycling or scooting instead; to make it quicker?

That's fine! I used to do double that. 30 minute walk to primary then 40 minutes to work. Repeat again in the afternoon.

My nearly 3 year old can manage this twice a week to nursery and back. Me with some weird lump on my foot I can't get seen for love nor money struggles so we cycle now. But the walk is fine, I know what you mean about being the odd one out as I only see 1 other drop off walking.

Very similar to our school run - 25 minutes each way, so 4 x 25 minutes every day for me and 2 x 25 minutes each day for the kids. We are close to the edge of catchment but I see a lot of families near to us doing the same walk.

I'm one of those annoying parents who never lets us drive: rain, snow, gales, whatever! I work from home all day so for me personally, I enjoy the exercise and fresh air and occasional chat with other mums walking as after that I sit down in the house on my own all day. I also think it's good for the kids to start their day with a bit of exercise rather than being squashed into the car and watching me get stressed trying to park near to the school. They chat along the way with each other/me and it's just a nice bit of time together which we wouldn't otherwise have.

I think it’s quite a lot. Mine is 10 mins each way (so 40 mins per day for me and 20 for the children) for comparison.

I'd be too much for mine

That seems quite odd that no-one else is walking! I do a similar walk - 15 minutes to school (DD in Year 4; it was 20 minutes in reception), then 15 minutes walk to the office, and the same in reverse. Most children at her school also walk in and have similar length walks, from what I know.

However, the school is in an inner city area with a small catchment area, so even at the edge of the catchment area (like us), it’s a short walk. It’s quite near the city centre if you’re heading to work afterwards, though a lot of people WFH. Are you in a more suburban / rural where people are travelling longer distances?

I guess my opinion will be unpopular, but it's a massive pain in the arse.
Is it doable? Yes.
Can you enjoy it on a nice day? For sure.
Will you get fitter? Quite probably.

We've just moved and DD's previous school run was just below 20 minutes. The walk wasn't very nice, the path covered in dog poo and shattered glass and constant rain meant we kept getting soaked, sliding on wet dog sh*t 😩
I am SO glad we now have a bout 10 minutes to school.

However, if it's a nice walk you might have a better experience.
I would only do it again if I had no other choice.

My nursery walk was longer than this (over a mile). Kids loved it and it did them good. We had chats, races, looking at shops, naming flowers, meeting friends - I remember those times with fondness, enjoy OP! And yes, it kept me very slim and fit.

We did that for about 3 years until they changed school. Totally doable although bad weather was a bit of a pain.

I don’t think it’s a lot at all. Similar to my walk to school as a child.

That’s exactly what our walk to school used to be. Totally normal I would say.

Same length as our school run, its easy as DD either rides her scooter or bike since start of reception which speeds it up a bit!

Not read whole thread but might not be daily? Eg if child goes swimming after school you might get a bus there.
Where do you head after school drop off - if some days you go on to work you won’t be on same trudge back.

I used to do exactly that when my kids were at nursery and I was pushing them in a double buggy. It's great exercise your legs will thank you.

I thought that was fine before I read your update explaining that the five year old would only have half the journey. It’s definitely fine now.