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Original poster

Do you walk to school or drive?

99 replies

blossomhill · 05/11/2004 19:28

I am so, so lazy as I drive to school and back and I only live 5/10 minutes away.
I do have an excuse in that my children go to 2 different schools and I have to be at both in the same sort of time so driving is quicker.
However, it is more stressful as both schools are busy and hard to park at.
I just think I am breeding lazy children.
I always intend to walk and I do occasionally but I only have to step outside and feel one drop or rain or feel cold and hop in the car

OP posts:
Lonelymum · 05/11/2004 19:36

I am about 7 minutes walk from school and usually I walk, but if it was tipping down with rain or I am driving on somewhere else afterwards, or sometimes when I was pregnant, I will drive even though it takes just as long to drive round the roads (the walking route is off-road) and find somewhere to park.
So you are not alone.

charliecat · 05/11/2004 19:39

I hike half an hour up hill to school then down hill half an hour to nursery...GRIM! I like the exercise though and I feel I have achieved something just by getting there first thing in the morning.

Original poster
blossomhill · 05/11/2004 19:40

Good for you Charliecat

OP posts:
zebra · 05/11/2004 19:42

Blossom -- you're like most my neighbours, they mostly drive. We walk. I have a 3yo & a baby to bring with me, so it's a bit of an effort some days, but it's only 10 minutes each way. Could a neighbour p/up one of your children for you?

Original poster
blossomhill · 05/11/2004 19:43

I really feel like I want to pick them up and couldn't make the decision on which one to pick up and which not.
Also dd moans all the way home and I just think what is the point of being stressed.

OP posts:
Twiglett · 05/11/2004 19:43

Walk

but tbh once we'd got in the car we could have walked to school as it is all of about 50 paces from my back door

coppertop · 05/11/2004 19:44

We walk to ds1's school whatever the weather. It's about 5 minutes away. We don't have a car so I don't really have that much of a choice anyway.

Original poster
blossomhill · 05/11/2004 19:46

I only learnt to drive whilst pregnant with dd 5 years ago. I haven't been on a bus since!!!

OP posts:
KateandtheGirls · 05/11/2004 19:49

My daughter's school is 6 miles away, down a dual carriageway, so... I drive.

emmatmg · 05/11/2004 19:50

The only time I have driven to school is if they have phoned me because Ds1 is ill.

I walk in the snow, rain, hail, storms everything!

The reason I walk it is beacuse by the time I've got them all in the car, driven to school, found a space, got them all out, taken Ds1 in, put Ds2+3 back in the car, driven home, got them out and indoors I could be there and back and indoors sitting down half way though a cup of tea.
It takes about 4 minutes to walk so getting in the car seems pointless.

WigWamBam · 05/11/2004 19:57

I walk half an hour to nursery and then pant half an hour (uphill) back, come rain, hail, snow or apocalypse. I wouldn't dream of driving if I only lived 5 minutes away - although it's easy for me to say as I only have the one daughter so don't have blossomhill's problem of having two schools to get to. I do get rather cross at all the other mummies from dd's nursery who sail past waving cheerily at me as I trudge along to fetch dd in the pouring rain though ...

Original poster
blossomhill · 05/11/2004 19:59

It's not an excuse really but I just find it easier in some ways. I really need to be more organised than I could walk as I really enjoy it but know I am being lazy and taking the easy option.
Must say I would never walk in the rain or snow. I just couldn't.

OP posts:
mieow · 05/11/2004 20:03

I drive because of DS' Cerebral palsy, as it takes him about 30-40 to walk the 10 minute walk, and the school asked me not to make him walk in the mornings as when I did, it tired him out for the day, and couldn't do his schoolwork

WigWamBam · 05/11/2004 20:03

Some of us don't have much choice, blossomhill!

zebra · 05/11/2004 20:17

I often think "How do people find time to watch TV?" (because we don't have a telly).
We don't have a car, either, and then I realised the connection. If we had a car, what would I do with the time I had "saved"? Just end up watching telly, I imagine.

oxocube · 05/11/2004 20:20

We walk but we do live about 300 mtrs from school so driving would be taking the piss, I think

Original poster
blossomhill · 05/11/2004 20:32

Zebra - I wish we could live without a tv.

OP posts:
lavender2 · 05/11/2004 20:41

we live 30 seconds away from the school (and we are always the last to get there for some bizzare reason)(it's opposite our house

zebra · 05/11/2004 20:42

It's really hard for the first 3-4 weeks, Blossom, and then you don't miss it.

We do, however, (very important) watch DVDs on the computers a lot.

sobernow · 05/11/2004 21:19

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

JJ · 05/11/2004 21:37

We walk/take the bus to school, but don't have a car. It takes about 20-25 minutes. When we get a car, I might drive in the mornings and not in the afternoon. My youngest son fell into the street yesterday, so I'm a little shaken by that. For us, I don't think driving would be any easier than walking (if he learns how to do the road thing) as the traffic is bad.

linnet · 05/11/2004 22:01

We walk to school as neither of us drive. It's a 15 minute walk to school, can be done in 10 minutes if we're running late and we walk really fast. And sadly we have to walk in all weathers, rain, snow, gales, brilliant sunshine. In the winter I wish I could drive just so that we could arrive at school warm and dry rather than freezing cold and damp around the edges. But in saying that It would probably take us the same amount of time to drive to school, if not longer then have to get a parking space etc so we're as well walking really. Plus it's good exercise and lots of fresh air.

mykidsmum · 05/11/2004 22:05

I walk my twins to school aswell as my 3 year old and 1 year old (in the pushchair). This is about a 10 minute walk. Ithen walk back on myself 10 minutes home and walk 1 1/2 miles to pre-school. Last year my 3 year old twins used to wlk 3 miles a day to and from pre school. I am proud of this as I now am able to take them anywhere and they never complain their feet hurt!! I love walking I do !!

tabitha · 05/11/2004 22:06

walk, but to be fair I practially live next door to the school.
I always find with walking (to places that are further away) is that I dread doing it but once Im actually walking I quite enjoy it

KBear · 05/11/2004 22:24

We live a good twenty minutes walk from the school and we walk every day (DH has car) and from next week I will be walking twenty minutes in one direction to school, dropping off DD, then walking twenty minutes in another direction to take DS to pre-school, then twenty minutes home. Big triangular walk. Then after two hours, back for DS. Three hours later back for DD.

If I'm not eight stone and super fit by Christmas there is no justice!! I am lucky in that both by children like walking, some kids just hate it and there can be nothing worse than dragging them moaning all the way to school.