To make the kids walk 3miles to school?

[DHdoingmyheadin]

Due to ongoing roadworks, the main road through the village to my kids school is closed and will be for c. a month. We are right at the edge of where the roadworks are so we have two options:

(A) A 15 mile detour by car, down the road all the traffic is being funnelled down (a main A road that is congested even when the road through the village is open). Which I trialled yesterday, and took me 45 minutes each way. This was with no school traffic as schools go back tomorrow. So I’d be doing at least 90 minutes of driving each morning and DH 90 mins in the afternoon.

(B) The kids walk to school and back. 3 miles each way.

DH is adamant I can’t possibly expect them to walk. It’s hilly. It’s due to rain. I think they walk. I think it would be insane to drive when it’s literally faster for them to walk. It’s 3 miles. I’m not asking them to swim the channel and then scale Mount Everest. Kids are 12 and 13.

AIBU to put my foot down and refuse to drive?

I didn't have a job then, but I went back to school during DS's last year so I took him on the back on my bike until he could cycle fast enough as I definitely did not have the time then! Then I passed my driving test so was able to drive him.

It was bonkers (spent nearly 5 hours a day walking including the bits I walked by myself) but I didn't have any other option and I wanted them to go to nursery. I was very fit and healthy then though, so silver linings and all

My eldest is a keen sports person and I would absolutely encourage this walk - or more likely cycle, with the agreement that on hideously wet days they get a lift.

In my last job I regularly walked 2 miles each way for work, and would happily have done more, this was usually preceded by a run, cycle or swim. If you are fit and healthy 3 miles is not that far, yes it takes a while, but its doable. Most 12/13 year old's have a lot of energy to burn.

For a month, they'll survive. If it was a long term thing, I'd say yabu.
Maybe you could compromise for the week? They walk 3 days, you drive 2?

Can you park the otherside of the roadworks, walk to the car and drive from there?

Park your car three miles from where you work. Load yourself up with all the bags and kit that the children would need to carry. Then walk to work, regardless of the weather.

If you find this easy, then let the children walk to school.

I always work on the basis that I wouldn't ask someone to do something I'm not prepared to do myself. I used to walk/cycle three miles to work if the weather was decent, but that was along dedicated cycle/walking paths. And I wasn't loaded up with heavy bags/equipment

Do you honestly walk 14 miles on a commute day? How long does that take you? I run 5k three times a week and do about an hour of walking as part of my commute and I feel like that's pretty unusually active!

I'd compromise and walk on the way, pick up on the way back as it's up a hill and after a long day of school. You say its only for around a month and Sept is usually pretty good weather still. Maybe in heavy rain I would drive them in the morning.
If they are fit and healthy 12/13 year old, 3 miles isn't going to harm them for a month.

Nah. It's too much. I used to walk about a mile and a half each way to secondary school (and also a 25 min train journey) and that was knackering enough.

I used to do a job visiting clients homes and I remember the three mile walk to one of the locations. I could do it once but I had to get the bus on the way back. And I wouldn't have been able to do it at all in the rain. And this was a healthy grown adult woman!

No, she “honestly” doesn’t.

we know it
she knows it

That distance is not a lot for me now. I have checked on google maps and it is further than my school run back in the 70s. My parents said that it was too far for me to walk. It wasn’t out of my way for my father though.

Back to the Ops children. I suppose that you are going to keep an eye on the weather so if it is raining hard you give them a lift. They are not sugar mice, but sitting in wet clothes is not conducive to learning. I would actually be tempted to offer a lift in the morning most days (especially if they have a lot to carry) and let them walk home.

Yes YABU to 'put your foot down' and make them walk every day.

Why the drama and the two extremes? You could just prep them that they'll have to walk some days, depending on your schedule and tne weather. You can have a happy medium.

Making them walk for an hour to school and from school, day in day out, regardless of adverse weather, just to avoid driving - unreasonable.

I LOVE walking and go for miles and miles - but being forced to pound the pavement for an hour every day at 7.30am would make me utterly miserable after a while.

Hardly walk at all now, thanks to learning to drive and working full time, so I'm much less fit. But when I get the chance I walk 5km or so round the forest nearby, and we went on a few hikes this summer.

We used to walk everywhere when we were kids and I certainly walked at least 3 miles to school & home every day.

My daughter has walked 2 miles to school and 2 miles back every day since she was 11 she is now 15. Probably 1/3 of kids walk and it takes about 3/4 of an hour. It's also up hill on the way and it does rain. But we walk everywhere, so she is really used to it. Loads of kids cycle too.

Some of the comments here… they’re 12 and 13, they’ll be fine walking that far. Kids are supposed to exercise for at least 2 hours a day

Could not afford that!

When we didn't have a car I was so much fitter and slimmer but honestly I found everything took hours....even just a quick dash to the supermarket would take me the better part of an hour and half rather than half an hour if I had had a car

How does that work logistically??

I think walking or cycling for the month is fine. It’s not winter yet and it’s only a few weeks.

Threads involving walking distances/ number of steps etc. are always bonkers I find. The people describing 3 miles as a half hour walk have clearly never actually done it, like the people that claim to get 20k steps a day from "chasing after my toddler".

A ten minute mile is a pretty respectable running speed it's not the speed of a walk in school clothes carrying a bag.

For the record, I think they could walk it for a month it probably would be good for them. But it's going to be a good 45-60 minutes each if they walk reasonably briskly.

Take the scooter/bike in the car one direction.

It's got to be untrue. It takes about an hour to walk 3 miles. So she's claiming she does more than 4 hours walking around her workday!

I just looked up the distance and used to walk 3 miles to work and 3 miles back, but only 3 days a week. And it felt long, took just over an hour each way and took a lot of energy on top of working and I'm very fit! I reluctantly did it because of public transport issues but always felt it was too far.

Yes, I agree, they can surely walk for the next few weeks. They're 12 and 13, it's not too much of a distance at that age.

I agree...I think a lot of people are over estimating distances. Three miles is a lot.

HRTWT but surely there is a bus? Even if it has to go the diversion route ?