[blparent] [blaring] question about transportation of kids to and from daycare/school

[mary jo hartle]

HI,
We have similar challenges some times due to weather and both of us being
blind.  There have been a few days when we can't even get out to walk to
take a bus or train b/c the sidewalks are awful even though the weather has
let up.  .  My suggestions for those times when you can't walk or get a Para
transit ride would be to maybe talk to a couple of neighbors about using
them sparingly on those occasions and offering to pay them, or trade
services (i.e., babysitting, house cleaning, computer tech support,providing
them a free meal,  etc.) .  Maybe there is even a neighbor near your
mother-in-law with whom you could arrange this and who could take your girls
from their grandmother''s  back home to you.  Maybe there is another family
who lives close to you who also attends the daycare/child care place where
your girls go with whom you could ride.   Since you have a good relationship
with the staff at the school, maybe you could even talk to them about
connecting you with a family or carpool group that attends there, or even if
there is a staff member with whom you could contract to drive your children
home (if you were comfortable with that.) on those rare occasions,
especially since you live within walking distance of the school--it would
not be that out of someone's way hopefully.  .  
	another idea would be to start creating a pool of drivers you could
use on those occasions.  Where you live in the Boston area, I'm sure there
are lots of college students who may be looking to earn a little extra
money.  You could run an ad in a local paper or craig's list even.  You
could arrange for them to "work" (drive) for you a day or two ahead of time
on those occasions where you know the weather forecast doesn't look good for
using your other transportation options.  I've herd from a couple of
individuals who use drivers around us in the greater Baltimore/D.C. metro
area that the going rate for a driver is around $10-15 per hr. and
$0.40-50/mile.  I think this is something you can negotiate with a driver
though depending on what you are asking of them.  I know others who just
offer a lump sum for a certain trip.  I recognize that the formal use of a
driver might be hard to use on short notice like if the weather suddenly
makes it impossible for you to get to/from the school.  That is where I'd
maybe try to work out something with your neighbors or another family close
by for those situations.  
	One last idea may be to just have an emergency budget fund (or
literally a "rainy day fund") wherein you keep cash on hand and/or set aside
a certain amount of money for a more costly ride  so that you could take a
taxi on those rare days.  I'm assuming since you didn't mention taxis in
your message that maybe they aren't an option in your area, or are too
costly.  But, a lot of major metro areas, such as the greater Boston area
probably have some kind of car or Sudan service , so maybe you could call
one of these to use on those bad weather days and just plan to pay a bit
more.  I'm sure you could google something like "sudan or limo services" A
lot of these have SUV's or vans you can request for a pick up.  
Anyway, these are just some things we've thought of for our situation.  I
hope some of this is helpful.  I know I'd rather have my children home with
me too rather than staying somewhere else; especially when it doesn't sound
like you live that far away from the school.  Best of luck!
Mary Jo Hartle 
-----Original Message-----
From: blparent [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf of Jennifer
Bose
Sent: Thursday, February 13, 2014 4:30 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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