[blparent] question about transportation of kids to and fromdaycare/school

[Jo Elizabeth Pinto]

Transportation can be tricky.  My sighted boyfriend works fairly near the 
school so he can go bring our daughter home if she gets sick during the day, 
but he has to shut down his retail watch and clock repair store to pick her 
upp, so I rely on him as little as possible.  Now that my guide dog is old 
and retired, and with this winter having been rough and icy at times, I've 
been glad that an older lady from church has been willing to collect my 
daughter when she picks up her granddaughter from school.  She's not always 
able, though, since she and her husband and her medically fragile grandson 
have a lot of doc appointments.  For a while, I relied on a lady I found 
through a school bulletin board who was willing to provide transportation. 
But she didn't prove to be very dependable.  Now my daughter takes taekwondo 
lessons twice a week, and there's a bus from the studio that picks her up at 
the school,.  The studio is right around the corner from her dad's watch 
shop, and the classes are over right when the shop closes so he can walk 
over and get her, which has worked out beautifully.  She's loving martial 
arts.  Sometimes blind parents have to be creative, but I've found through 
talking to the other moms and grandparents that they, too, face the same 
transportation problems now that so much of the funding for buses has been 
cut.

Jo Elizabeth

Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may 
kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at 
evening.--Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
-----Original Message----- 
From: Jennifer Bose
Sent: Thursday, February 13, 2014 2:30 PM
To: blparent
Subject: [blparent] question about transportation of kids to and 
fromdaycare/school

Hi, fellow parents.

I'm curious about how everyone handles transportation of their kids to
and from school, especially in situations where there's no driver.
We've had a tough winter here in the Boston area, and it's been that
way in many places. Right now, the girls are four and almost two years
old, and both of them go to the same daycare. Our house is walking
distance from it and my husband and I, both blind, walk them over
there or use the Ride, as we call the paratransit here, on
cold-weather days. It's been nice to do that because we like the
school and have that contact with the teachers and with the other
families whose kids go to the center. My husband's mom lives around
the corner from the daycare center.

Our travel situation can get really interesting on days when the roads
are treacherous. I work full-time and we were allowed to leave early
today. This evening, it's likely that the Ride will be delayed and not
get to the school until after it's closed. The staff know our
situation and don't mind us waiting there after they've all left. Many
times, when there's a lot of snow or the roads are just terrible, we
just conclude that it's best to have them go to their grandmother's
house nearby for the night, so she, or one of us, will go pick them up
and bring them over there. Nobody minds that too much; my MIL's a good
person and they should have times to be with her. But as their mom,
for whatever reason--maternal instinct or something--I prefer to have
them home with me. I was just curious what other families do if they
want their kids to be at their own homes, or if they don't have nice
relatives nearby who don't mind the kids staying overnight when it's
hard to travel.

Incidentally, safe travels to any of you confronting terrible weather
today, wherever you are.

Jen

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