MagicMum.com

tsk tsk!!
and all i manage to do all day is scratch my ass.
the shame.

yeah but I bet you're good at it gertrude. My old school teacher used to say to me " Dora, no matter what you do in life, once you give it 100 % then be proud " so once you give the scratchin 100 % nothing to be ashamed of.

Me thinks you doth protest too much ladies!

Annieg doesn't come across to me as 'looking for a medal'

The way I read her post is that she's saying even if you're mad busy (as all of us SAHM's inevitably are) how can there not be time to walk to and from school if it's reasonably close?

And obviously if we're going to be pedantic about it I mean SAH Dad's too.. in fact maybe we should change the resident SAHM acronym to SAHP (parent) so that we're all totally politically correct here

That said I feel like my post has totally jinxed the weather, because I said earlier in the week that it hardly ever seems to rain badly in the mornings and lo and behold I'll need Noah's Ark to get to school if this continues.. so sorry for jinxing

Well to be honest, our time is our own and we can choose whatever we like to do with it. , its no one elses business what we do with our time . I choose not to use it walking to school. My choice, and if it upsets others... hmmm sorry.

Couldn't agree with you more. It's absolutely your choice and your time.

I suppose if you can't concede that if you were to walk and take your car out of the traffic in the morning to help alleviate rush hour for people who have no choice but to commute many miles each way to work then it's pointless going round in circles on this! I know those of you who drive aren't going to like me saying that but I feel strongly about it (if you can't tell already)

Exactly!!!

As I said earlier, we like about 7km from the kids school. I could easily walk it and have done before when I felt like just going for a walk, on my own! If somebody said to me, your task for the week is to walk to and from the school twice a day, I'd have absolutely no problem with that, so long as the kids could get the bus, the whinging about the 'heavy' bags(our kids are empty most of the time), splashing in puddles, running off, arseholes in cars splashing them, getting blown out of it in wind, getting roasted and stinky on sunny days, trying to keep the smally and the looper off the road, by the time I got there I'd be fit to tear my hair out!

I'm not a SAHM either by the way, I work about 30 hours a week, mostly in the evening. So while I am free in the mornings I'd prefer to enjoy my time with my kids, that doesn't include the above scenario

As someone else pointed out earlier, its not just sahm's who make rush hour as it is. Lots of people drive to work when they can get the bus/train etc. Of course we should all be leaving our cars at home if we can, but we don't have to, so we are going to drive . Thats life.
I live in a small town that doesn't have a lot of traffic. I am sure I would feel different about it if I were trying to make my way into work through scores of parents getting their kids to school.... I am sure it would stress me out, but we all have to share this world and sometimes it gets crowded, so people need to learn how not to let such small things ruin their day.

I drive my kids to school, or DH does when on his way to work outside the home, depends what hours he works...
we would be living about 7 miles from the school...
I'm a sahm, so don't move my arse all day, maybe I should start walking there instead

haha,
no, im just finding it so funny how incredibaly judgemental it is all sounding.
im not saying roopy that you are meaning to sound like this, but that is the tone of it that is coming across to me from some of the posters.

in the days when i was lucky enough to have a job, and i was driving to work, my gripe used to be the amount of cars that had only the driver in them, inevitable their journey with one driver was a hell of a lot longer than the journeys the school moms/dads would do.
plus, there weren't many schools on the m50, or the n4, or the n32, so it definately wasn't the usual suspects responsible for clogging up those routes.


also, when i was struggling with two babies in a double buggy, there was no way i could go on transport, so i had no choice but to drive places.
it's not much better these days to be honest because the buses that do allow you to wheel the buggy on, has a maximum amount of prams it can take.
i was caught with dd on too many occasions because of that one.

i walk the kids to and from school, probably more than you would assume from my posts on this thread.
but, i reserve the right to drive them when i feel like it, whether i have an excuse or not.

and for what it's worth, when i take my car out, it is often not just for one errand, i combine a few tasks for the same journey, because 1) i hate driving, and 2) to save petrol.
so, on days i drive the kids, i would often be going on afterwards to get fuel, groceries, to the doctors, the bank, whatever.

Right seriously this is where the MM crazy reaction response comes into play.. where on earth did I ever insinuate that someone who would have to do a 7km round trip should walk





I'm talking about people driving who live within 20 minutes walk of school.. no more.. I do not have a problem with people driving to school for very decent and legitimate reasons.. My ROUND TRIP total is 2.5km and for a 3 and 6 year old and Mammy with an infant in the buggy that is more than enough!!!!

If anyone walked a 7km round trip to school every day I'd think they were a bloody saint!!!! Sorry but I just had to point this out... I am talking about people driving FOR NO GOOD REASON when they live very close to the school!!!

Sorry for sounding all pedantic and preachy!! Didn't mean to get at any one in particular.

Of course, everyone can do what they like and I appreciate that people have lots of things on - minding elderly parents and riding their DHs - and that's all fair enough!

But the point is - things we do, do IMPACT other people. We don't live in bubbles. If everyone drives, there are big traffic jams and schools are just big car parks. If eveyone who COULD walk, did walk (and I mean by that that the school is near, there are paths, the mother is not somehow physically impaired, there is not a monsoon, etc.) , that would be a GOOD thing! No?

*adjusts halo*

I always walk to and from school - rain or shine.

*gives halo a little polish*

oh god, is this thread still going??

yes, of course i understand what you mean annie.
the roads would be so much better if as many people as possible walked their journeys or used public transport.
but, this cant be demanded of people.
as long as people pay their insurance and road tax, they have as much right as others to use the roads.

fwiw, im about 15mins from the school, but it takes about 20-30 mins to walk it with the kids.
so thats about a 50min round trip for me.

finder, feck off with your halo!!

Maybe those that that send their children to schools that are so far away they have to drive should look at local schools?
Maybe those driving to work should be looking at public transport, cycling or carpooling?
Maybe people shouldn't live so far away from their work?

There are loads of unnecessary cars on the road every day.


Just playing devils advocate

Havent read back....

Generally walk under 3k but if its raining I will drive.

DH usually drops ds to school on his way to work unless its fine weather then I will walk him/cycle up

We live about 10-15 mins drive from dd preschool its about 30 min walk so will drive there in the winter and walk to pick her up during the summer.

Well said...This is what I'm trying to get at.. of course we all have the right; the legal entitlement to drive but if you can do something that has a good impact on the stress of someone else's day, in other words walk so there is less traffic on the roads for commuters then that is a good thing surely!

I mean seriously if we all just thought about number one in every single thing we did every single day the world would be a sorrier place would it not?

And yes Gertrude it's still going.. and you're still here.. don't pretend you're not enjoying it

You could put that to the tune of Imagine by John Lennon and make it a Christmas No.1!

After the December budget, I think the lyrics would go a long the lines of:

"Imagine there's a recession,
it's easy if you try,
No more second car to drive in,
petrol costs sky high,
Imagine all the school children,
walking to school today'

'You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And we'll all walk to school as one'

LOL, I like it! A beautiful sentiment!

DS1 not in school till next year but his new school is being built at present and will hopefully be ready by 2011, so by the time he hits senior infants we will be close enough to the school to facilitate walking to school. My plan would be to do this as much as possible.

I want royalties for the idea