My boys didn’t start school last week with everyone else.
Nope, after a year away from school exploring the world on an around the world trip, we snuck them away again last week for their uncle’s wedding in Italy.
It was a moment we absolutely wouldn’t miss and so it meant that school would have to wait a few days more.
The excitement between them was unbearable but finally the day arrived.
While some kids might have been dragging their heels, this morning my two were up early, dressed and ready to go. 
They love their school, they love their teachers and they LOVE taking the bus.
And so as I walked them off this morning, snapping photos as moms are wont to do, they were practically skipping along.
We got there and waited.
And waited.
And waited.
Nothing.
No kids. No bus.
And my youngest started to lose his mojo.
Luckily I had a secret weapon.
I clicked my car key and the roar of the Dodge Caravan Crew we’re test driving this month sprang to life. Cam looked over intrigued. He’d never seen me remote start it before. Then I gave them a rapid-fire description of how the morning was going to go.
“Here’s what we’re going to do,” I said boldly. “We’re going to pile into our super cool car. You’re going to put on your super cool head phones and we’re going to rock out to the Sattelite Radio all the way to school. Then we we get there we’re going to slide open those doors and boogie all the way up to the front of the school. Who’s in?”
Both boys were laughing. They piled in and we partied all the way to the school yard. The grins were constant from the backseat. (Could be my “moves like Jagger.”) When we pulled up into the lot, they bounded out of the car, the earlier issue forgotten and my oldest turned back. 
“Mom you’re not only the best mom ever. you’re the coolest too.”
Taking the compliment, my dance moves and the Caravan and heading for home.
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school driving schedule. Let us know how much time you spend in your
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I have a very busy driving schedule taking a loved to and from the hospital and to doctor’s appointments nearly every week and also commuting to and from work.Thank you for a splendid and fabulous giveaway! 🙂
Right now I don’t have a busy driving schedual because I just got my learners permit.I am 55 and have walked and road my bike all the time but itis getting harder hauling groceries.
I would say approx 3 hrs a day driving the kids to/from school then after school activities
Wake up at 5:30 as usual and get ready until 7 when I drive the kids to a friends house where they get driven to school via carpool and then drive to Burlington for work. Come home at 5:30 and pick up the kids at school if there is extracurricular activities or at friends house and it’s home for supper. Then off to hockey or soccer practice depending on time of year.
Wake up at stupid o’clock in the morning. Go to my sisters. Get my nephew up and ready for school. Go to my daughters. Pick up the two youngest kids. Take my nephew to school. Then whatever errands need to be run for the day. Pick up my Goddaughter after school. Go to my daughters again to drop off the little ones. Take my Goddaughter home. Then I can finally go home and make dinner. I think I average about 5 hours a day in the car. That’s not including having to take my Mom to Dr’s appointments and such.
Our schedule is random and chaotic but my son is 2.5 so it consists of zoo trips, story time, play dates and grocery runs. We are planning a family road trip in October so the gas card would come in handy!
I just had my second child last month so I’m on maternity leave right now. But when I was at work, I had to drive between 4 different hospitals all day. I’m enjoying the break and spending the time with my kids. We run errands and do shopping several times a week.
we try to limit time in the car as much as possible and will opt to walk/bike whenever possible. but during the weekdays it can be 1-3 hours each day (a lot depends on traffic and which extra-curricular activities are scheduled on that day). we do less driving on the weekends (thankfully).
My 16-year-old daughter drives our car 3 times a week across the city for music lessons, and she also drives to work 5 days a week. Thankfully, her job is close by.
As little as possible but honestly a couple hours each day. At least work isn’t too far from home.
I don’t have to drive them to school, but back-to-school also means back to cadets and all the extra activities associated with it, which can mean a car load of kids with little notice. This can add up to a few hours a week.
After driving my husband to work, some 25 km from home, and back, I attend college everyday. In addition, I have many doctor appointments to attend and shopping and extras throughout the week keeps me in my vehicle for several periods of time.
We are fortunate enough to live close to both my children’s schools. I drive them to school in the morning on the way to work and then they walk home in the afternoon. Other than that I drive them to swimming, basketball and friends homes during the week.
I spend about 45 minutes in my car everyday.
I guess I’m lucky but I rarely have to drive during the day. We walk when we want to go somewhere and I’m trying to get used to taking the bus rather than the car.
I spend about 3 hours a day driving.
Everyday i start my day at 6 am. I get up and get ready. Then i get my kids up at 6:30 to get dressed for school, as by 7 my day home kids start to arrive. I quickly get everyone fed and teeth brushed to be able to drive my kids to school for 8:20 bell. I come home and take care of my day home kids for the next 2.5 hrs, to only turn around and drive back to school to pick up my son from kindergarten at 11am. After that i try not to drive anywhere for the rest of the day unless i have to as it is such a hassle to pack all the kids around!
To be honest I’m lucky we walk to school its only a 5min walk plus I teach them the rules of the road as we walk so they gain street smarts. Plus the exercise is always a bonus.
I do however spend a lot of time in the car running errands as out in the suburbs everything is many KM apart.
I do have a busy schedule spend about 2 hours a day commuting and then there is the drives to shopping and errands.
I don’t have a busy schedule at all. My kid gets on the bus at 8:45, he’s oldest to stand by himself and I only have to get to work by 9:00. Then he gets off the bus by himself at 3:30 and he has his own key. It’s pretty easy!
We spend about 2 hours a day commuting and then there is the drives to shopping and errands. Whew. This is way too much time driving everyday.
We probably spend about 4 hours driving time per week with my husband’s commute to and from work and the weekend family errands. Otherwise, my child and I use public transit daily.
wow! a $250 gas card would be soooo nice…with all the running around I do this would be an absolute blessing..in my gas tank… which incidently always needs filling…
Given the price of gas, we use our car as little as possible and instead stick to walking or public transit wherever possible. That said, we still spend perhaps 4hrs+/wk in the car.
I am in our car a few hours per day between getting my husband and I to and from work and picking up the girls from school for appointments or activities. Now with my oldest looking for a part time job I know we will be doing even more driving to get her to and from work! Living out in the country our commute is extended but the benefits outweigh the negatives for sure.
Bought our house specifically to be near the school and our workplaces. I look out the window and watch my son walk to and from school. It takes about 5-10 minutes to drive to work, depending on the lights. I forgot to consider that the kids wouldn’t always be in elementary school, so now that my daughter is in high school, she has to walk to the end of the street to get the school bus. The only problem arises is when she stays for after school activities. Then we have to go pick her up, which takes about 15-20 minutes each way.
I only wish I had a car. I’ve never even driven 🙂
I have to drive my son to school 10 minutes, than 10 minutes to work. I repeat the routine again in the evening. One day a week or so I commute a bit further for work – a half hour. I consider myself quite lucky 🙂
it varies per day:
40 mins. to job site
40 mins. back
10 mins. to work twice per day (20 mins.
10 mins. home= 30 mins.
app. 2 hrs. some days
other days 30 mins.
I load up both kids into the van in the morning (not looking forward to winter and the accompanying layers…). We drive to my son’s school first. Get both of them out, get him in and organized. Get my youngest back in the van. Drive to her daycare. Get her out and organized and then off to work I go. I’m probably in the van about 40 minutes? After work – same routine. I pick my youngest up first, into the van we go off to my son’s school. Take her out, into the school to get my son, get both back in the van and head home. Another 40 minutes. Soon we’ll be adding in after-school activities too! Sigh!
We are definitely spending more time in the car these days with school back in session!! I spend on average 2 hours a day in my vehicle. School drop offs, pick-ups, grocery shopping, ballet classes, trips to the park, doctors appointments, art classes, hip hop classes, play dates and deliveries for my home based business. Phew!!
I’m past having a busy back to school driving schedule. My daughter is grown and just moved out last year so I don’t have to run her around to school anymore. Been there, done that — but I loved that I was able to do that for her.
My kids are little. Oldest is in preschool and baby is 10 months old so I find the biggest challenge is packing everything we need. It can be very time consuming to pack bottles, snacks for both kids, if we are out during meal time that means a bib, spoons food also. Stroller, stuffies, something to keep them busy. etc etc. It can take a long time to get out the door for sure!
Not too bad for me spend about 2 hours a day driving around
We are actually not in the car very much, since the kids’ school and daycare are within walking distance, and my husband and I bus or bike to work. We do drive the kids to their other activities. This year (between the 3 of them) we have choir, piano, swimming, diving, ballet, and gymnastics. Oh, and of course there is the weekly grocery run!
This gas card would be such a blessing to us… I am in the car a lot!! I drive my 2 children to school for 8:50am and then depending on the day I run errands then head back to the school to pick up my son at 11:20am. Then I have to pick up my daughter at 3:10pm. Depending on the day I might have to work for the morning or take my daughter to ballet or my son to hockey, volunteer at their school or go to school council meetings. I feel like I am constantly moving all day long. 🙂
I spend very little time driving my kids to school since we live within walking distance to their schools. We do however drive them to their sports and part time jobs and it adds up to about a 1/2 hour a day.
A $250 gas card would go a long way for me! I drive as little as possible and encourage everyone to walk or cycle. I live in a small town so it is easy to get anywhere and the school is nearby. For work I have to drive back and forth a lot though so the weekends usually use more gas than weekdays!
I spend quite a bit of time carting my son around to all his activities and hockey practices,games,friends houses,etc..its a never -ending job!
I spend about 3-4 hrs per day in my car
entry form for gas card plx
8:30 leave house with kids
8: 40 pick up neighbor’s kids
9:00 drop off at school
9:15 grab quick coffee for myself
10:00 go home quickly to do laundry, clean, cooks, etc
4:00 routine starts over again pick up kids
5:00 drop kids to ballet
6: 00 hurry home to cook somemore for dinner
i don’t drive often in the city but i love taking road trips with the family…then we spend all day in the car.
We drive between 1-3 hours a day depending on the activities we are doing on the particular days..
Load kids into vehicle at 6:15 am (they’re too young to be left alone) and drop off hubby at work at 7:00 am. Drive back home and rush to get everyone dressed and breakfast to be back out the door at 8:30 am to drive the 2 older kids to school. Drive back home. Make a grocery list, get the 2 youngest ready, go shopping @ 9:30 am and be back home by 11:00 am. Get lunch for the 2 little ones. Load the 2 little back into the vehicle at 12:00 noon to pick up mother who lives 30 minutes away, to take her for a doctor’s appointment. Get to doctor at 1:00 pm, sit and wait until 1:45 to see the doctor. Take mother back home at 2:00 and arrive at her place at 2:30 pm, visit for 25 minutes, load 2 little ones back into vehicle and go to pick up the 2 older kids at 3:30 pm at school. Drive to pick up hubby at work, get back home at 5:00 pm, make a quick dinner, then back out the door at 5:45 pm to take the 2 older kids to soccer practice. Get to soccer practice at 6:15 pm, stay an hour and a half, load kids back into vehicle and get back home at 8:00 pm, exhausted!!
we only have one vehicle in our home which makes it a little more difficult. I drop off one of our kids at grandmas in the morning and take the other to school. Then off to work. After work I pick up the kids, drop one off at home and the other off at gymnastics 3 days a week. Then off to physio I go. (still recovering from a car accident). Then home for dinner and then off to pick up my daughter from gymnastics. Somedays I feel like the only break I get from driving is when I’m at work!
Although my son is lucky to have his jr high a block away i am the one who has to be driven into the city at crazy morning hrs for physio and occupational therapies. So it’s a mad rush to get my son sorted in the mornings and ready for school so i can get myself ready to go into the city. It’s about 30 mins to get in, 1 hour appointment and then the drive home again. Hope this counts towards the contest but if not i do understand :0)
i drive about 1 hour in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon!
5 days a week 🙂
thanks for the chance!
jocypou@hotmail.com
My husband uses our vehicle, so he has to drop me off, and pick me up and in between has to pick up our daughter and run her around and be back for me at the end of the day. Good thing he is self employed
7:45: leave house and drop kids of at school
8:30: go to Yoga class
9:30: go to work
3:30 pick kids up from school
4:00 take kids to soccer practice
5:30 come back home
I usually drive 3-4 hours a day. With 3 kids, a hubby and a job it requires me to be in the car a lot
Somedays it seems like 4 hours. Husband to work, kids to school, kids home from school, pick hubby up, and all the errands and lessons, and activities on top. I live in my car. Good thing I like.
Today’s driving schedule:
8:15: leave house with all 3 children
8:20: drop oldest off a friend’s house to walk to middle school
8:25: drop younger 2 off at babysitter’s house to walk to school
8:45: arrive at work
4:30: leave work
5:00: pick all 3 up at babysitter’s house
5:10: arrive home
6:30: drop oldest off at dance class
6:45: drop boy off at karate class
7:30: pick oldest up at dance class
7:45: pick boy up at karate class
8:00: arrive home