Car-Light Challenge

Inspired by the most recent post over at Car Free with Kids, I'm taking a look at my recent trend in car-dependence, and challenging myself to drive less in the coming month. Between today--January 21st--and four weeks from now--February 18th (which just so happens to be Jaz and Luke's birthday, which means it will be easy for me to remember)--I am going to attempt to only drive in a car when my lovely wife is with me.

The issue at hand is the fact that we are still--19 months after purchasing the bakfiets--a two-car family. I really believe that we could get by with just one car. Just one car per family is still a lot of cars on this little planet. And there's really no good reason for us to have more than one. What's been holding us back thus far? A list:

1. My lovely wife is not so sure. For her, having grown up in the woods a good distance from any sort of public transportation, having her own car = freedom and independence.

2. Our whole family only fits in "my" car, the minivan. So, for us to become a one-car family, it would really only make sense to get rid of Lena's car (the civic).

3. I have been driving my car nearly every day all winter long.

But My Love has agreed that if I can really do this, if I can really NOT drive my car (unless she's with me and we're all going someplace as a family) for four weeks in the winter, then we can talk about becoming a one-car family.

I am not sure how I fell off the car-light bandwagon. I think it had something to do with the arrival of the sweet baby boy back in June. I still have yet to ride with him in my bike (the set-up I originally planned ended up not leaving any room for the other kids in the bak). But I am optimistic about a new car seat that I am going to try installing in the bak sometime soon (it's smaller and lighter, and I hope it will work).

Then there's the laziness factor. We run a pretty lazy parenting ship here in the land of Smitten Mamas, at least when it comes to the all-important sleep. Some people have grand philosophies about why bed sharing with babies and kids is key to a child's well-being. And we, too, can certainly see the psychological benefits co-sleeping has had for our family. But really? We just cannot imagine choosing to get up out of bed in the middle of the night when we don't otherwise have to. Likewise, Luke and Jaz's school starts at 8:20 a.m., but Lena and I find ourselves loathe to set an alarm OR get out of bed much before 7:45 a.m. We cannot fathom waking up the children on purpose. Which means that usually around 8:30 a.m., you'll find us racing around the house, trying to get everyone in boots and coats and mittens that aren't too frozen (from having been left in the car overnight), and if we're lucky, we've driven the 1 mile to the kids' school and dropped them off by 8:40, a mere 20 minutes late. Biking and walking and busing take longer than driving. It means getting up earlier. Or making lunches the night before. Or both. Probably going to bed earlier too.

Biking in the winter time is not entirely pleasant (unless it's a day like today, mid-30s and gloriously sunny), and that's a factor as well. But it's one I'll have to get over if I'm really going to ditch my car. Today, I envisioned ski goggles. Perhaps if I can figure a way to cover every inch of the kids' exposed skin, winter biking can become a viable option. But even when biking really doesn't make sense (like the day after a snow storm), we should be able to walk most everywhere we need to go; that was one of the main reasons why we bought this house a few months ago! And I think the only thing that has been holding me back from walking more is the car sitting in the driveway. If walking is the only option, then it's an easy choice to make.

There is also a bus. A bus, I am embarrassed to admit, I have never ridden on. Not even when it was free, as it was when I first moved to the valley 10 years ago. It seems that on truly terribly, awful weather days, the bus could be a decent fall-back option to get us from the bus stop at the end of our street to downtown (where the boys' school is). I will have to get a copy of the bus schedule, and find out how much it costs. Perhaps riding the bus would even be fun.

Today was day 1 of the new plan, and so I biked to pick the kids up from school for the first time in a couple months. I was a little late (though not officially late, there is a 15-minute window in which pick-up is meant to occur, and I arrived at the very end of that window), and Luke and Jaz were not pleased.

"You're late, and you brought the bike, and we have to go pick up Zeben??!!"

Zeben wasn't too happy about it either. We had to wake him up from his nap mat when we got to his sweet little school, and he was still all red-cheeks and squinty eyes when I buckled him into his seal seat on the back of the bakfiets, and then wrapped him inside a blanket burrito. He looked rather miserable, and only whimpered, didn't speak.

But then. Then, we were riding home via our usual return route, which just so happens to go past the library. The library that is so easy to ignore when driving in a car--parking, feeding the meter, unbuckling car seats, etc.--and yet is so very easy to stop at when traveling by bike. The kids happily hopped out and ran inside, and again, I was pleasantly surprised that the librarians remembered us. And the rest of our trip home was quite enjoyable, and I felt a peace come over me as I remembered that yes, this is the life I want to be living. The simpler, car-less version that involves impromptu visits to the library and an opportunity to really talk with my children while we commute. I daresay the kids were happier when we got home than has been the norm lately. The transition between school life and family life had been smoothed over and made seamless.

So let the challenge begin. I will update weekly to let you know how I'm doing. Care to join me in this challenge? Let me know, and we can cheer each other on. And thank you to Angela and Dorea for reminding me that daily reliance on a car is not my only option.