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

Thu Mar 27 19:14:31 UTC 2014

I found a driver on Craigslist. He's been doing some driving for me for
going on three years now. 
As with all things, don't be afraid unless your gut tells you to be. 

-----Original Message-----
From: blparent [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
rcubfank at sbcglobal.net
Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2014 1:49 AM
To: Blind Parents Mailing List
Subject: Re: [blparent] [blaring] question about transportation of kids
toand from daycare/school

Be careful if you go on Craig's list to find drivers for your children. We
all know what kind of people can be on that list although in hopefully most
cases it would be sucessful.

-----Original Message-----
From: mary jo hartle
Sent: Monday, February 17, 2014 4:09 AM
To: 'Blind Parents Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [blparent] [blaring] question about transportation of kids
toand from daycare/school

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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