WOHMs with kids who don't take the bus, how far is your work from your DC's school?

[ourbabygirl]

Trying to start evaluating my options when I go back to work next year... tricky thing is that I currently drive the kids (20 min.) to school, since they're out of district, but DH travels a bit for work, so I'll probably have to put them in before- or after-care at school.... which gets more complicated with my oldest starting middle school and having a different start time...

I wanted to work in their district where they're going to school, but I tried it and it wasn't a good fit, so I'm looking at other places...

If you have to drive your kids to and from school, how far away is your work from their school? And how far is their school from your home? Do they need to go to before- or after-care if your work hours don't align with their school hours? Does your spouse help with the driving?
If you or your spouse travels, how do you handle the logistics and timing of drop-off and pick-up at school?

Thanks for your feedback! :)

[niccig]

That’s tricky! I think either kids need to be close to home or close to your work or figure out a car pool.

DH and I are both 35-45 mins from DS’ schools. In elementary, DH would do drop off and I’d pick DS up from aftercare. In MS, DH or a neighbor DH did drop off and neighbor’s DW picked up. DS also walked home some days (2 miles). DS goes to a magnet HS (20 mins drive away) and gets the school bus. I drop him at bus stop on my way to work and friends give DS a lift home from bus stop or he walks (1.5 miles )

I’ve also reached out to friends who live close by to be emergency contact in case someone needs to get DS quickly. We live in a canyon and have had brush fires, one just a few weeks ago and no cars were allowed into our street. So it’s possible for me to not be able to get home but DS already be at home. There’s several neighbors and nearby friends DS could go to in an emergency. You need a village!

When I first started full time it was grad school and I was an hour away. I was worried I’d forget DS’ lunch and he would have nothing to eat. I was told by a dad friend that if that ever happened, I was to text him and he’d take DS a sandwich. Reach out, there’s people who will help out.

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[PZMommy]

Up until this year, my kids attended our assigned school which is a few minutes from home. My work was nearly 30 minutes away (yet only 9 miles distance wise). They had to attend before and after school care. I did all drop offs and pick ups. My husband had to leave for work before their before school program opened up. Sometimes he could do pick up if I needed him too. I was hired to teach at their school this year, which has made things super easy.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I know you’ve talked about this before but why not switch them to the correct school and make everything easier? The school can’t be that bad. :) And they’ll make new friends. That’s the solution I’d take.


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[roobee]

I have worked part time in the evenings since 14 year old DD was a baby.

When DD was entering middle school three years ago and needed a ride to/from school each day, instead of riding the bus like she did in elementary, I started to consider what my days would look like going forward. After considering that I'd be responsible for getting DD and DS to both middle school and then high school and how limiting that would be for my future work options we decided to move. Moving so they could ride the bus to school was the best decision ever! I still work part time but I'm easily able to pick up extra shifts and not worry about how my kids are getting home from school. DS starts school at 9am and DD gets done with school at 2:10pm, finding a job between those hours wouldn't be impossible but it would be extremely limiting.

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[AnnieW625]

We are 2.5 miles from Dd1’s school and DH drops off most mornings and then drives another 1/2 to 1 mile away from Dd1’s school to drop off Dd2 at school. Dd1 takes the city bus home and DD2 goes to the YMCA for aftercare and I pick her up after work.

Next year this will be huge for us. We are moving to a new area and if we live in area A (which we love) DD2 will be able to walk for grades 5-6 but then for middle school she will have bus service, but DD1 will be in high school so she will have no bus service at all and there is no city bus service in that area to either high school she is interested in so carpooling is most likely going to have to happen until she gets her license. I am leaning towards area B because there is city bus service in the area, but we lose some amenities like newer houses with a community pool and other managed amenities as we aren’t sure we want the upkeep of a private pool but pools are common where we are moving to because the average temp is probably 80 and you can swim on Christmas. I will also most likely be commuting via train 2-4 days a week to my current job 35 miles away.


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[PunkyBoo]

I start work ridiculously early (6:30 am) so i can be the "afternoon parent". DH drops both kids off in the morning- DS1's high school is 2& 3/4 miles from home and DS2's elementary is 2 miles from home. DH now works about 1-2 miles from the schools. Usually DS1 walks home from school and is home alone until I get there. DS2 goes to aftercare at his school until I pick him up. Both schools have buses to our neighborhood, but the elementary bus doesn't leave our neighborhood until much later in the morning than DS1 has to be at school so we do not leave our 10 year old home alone in the morning to get himself to the bus. DS1 could take the bus but again, the times are not at all convenient for his class schedule. On the days DS1 had school sports or events, usually DH picks him up to take him. DH has a more flexible job than I do, so he can leave and work on his laptop and cell phone, whereas I must be in my office all day or use PTO. We're hoping this all gets a bit easier when DS1 is driving, but we'll see. In 2 years when DS2 starts at junior high (4.5 miles from home) things will be more complicated so we'll have to figure it out then.

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[marymoo86]

Our school is 2 miles away but we are magnet to that school. Our base school is 1.5mi away. DH drops off in the morning (late start time 915) and I do pickup from after care around 515.

I mostly work from home but when I have to go to the office, it's a good 20 miles away.

[StantonHyde]

I had a 10 minute "square" with the 4 points being work, home, school 1, and school 2. Each point was only 10-15 minutes from any other point. Every morning I would do the whole square-drive from home to school 1, then to school 2 (with a stop at the drive through coffee place), then to work. That took 30-40 minutes total. It was key for me to have it all that close. Kids were in aftercare several nights a week so that was when I would end up running into school 2 to pick up DD right as aftercare was closing. I had no help in the morning-just me. In the afternoon, if DH wasn't working he would pick up.

If kids will be doing aftercare every day, it is worth it to hire an after school nanny to get them home, get a snack, get homework started and/or done, drive to activities, etc. It's a lot for kids to socialize from start of school at 8am until I would pick them up at 6. My kids needed their downtime. They got that when DH picked up after school and brought them home.

[essnce629]

I'm a SAHM and used to be able to do both school drop offs and pick ups, but once DS1 started high school his school was in the opposite direction of DS2's school so I could no longer do both mornings drop offs. Our house is 3 miles (30 minutes round trip) from DS1's school and DS2's school is 8 miles (50 minutes round trip). DH's work is 12 miles away in the direction of DS2's school. We alternate taking both kids to school. DS1 doesn't start school till 8:30am which means DH can go to Crossfit in the morning and still get home to shower and take DS1 to school, even though it's in the opposite direction of his work. On days he takes DS2 to school he can't go to Crossfit, but he gets to work earlier. We don't need to use before care since DH doesn't need to be at work till 9. I do the afternoon pick up for both kids.

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[mnj77]

DH and I both work an hour away from DD's school (we work in the state capital, we live and DD goes to school in the larger nearby city). We have prioritized flexible jobs where one of us can leave early to pick her up. Occasionally my parents pick her up or she goes home with a friend and we pick her up from there. She's always done afterschool activities at school a few times a week, but no regular afterschool care.

[squimp]

I know you’ve talked about this before but why not switch them to the correct school and make everything easier? The school can’t be that bad. :) And they’ll make new friends. That’s the solution I’d take.

I kind of agree with this. I have done this, and I only have one. It is a real pain! We used to actually drive her to the bus stop to avoid the long drive (and crazy parking lot) before heading to work. Now that she has to be there at all hours of the day and night for sports and events, I really kind wish it was closer and that she can ride the bus home. And she wishes she could just walk to a friends house rather than living out of district. Just my two cents.

[chottumommy]

Both kids bike to school - about 2 miles. They have a bike bus so there's lots of them biking. Same thing when they get back. After school nanny is home by the time they get home and she gets some laundry done while waiting for them to get home.

DH travels quite a bit and I have to be at work by 8. DH also bikes to work. So drop offs are all on me. But once they started biking (since Jan) everybody is out of the house by 7:30 and I can have a cup of coffee peacefully before I head out.

Next year when DS1 goes to middle, he'll take the bus and DS2 will still bike. Middle school is across the highway about 4 miles so all the kids usually take the bus. We haven't figures out after school as yet but most likely we'll have our current nanny afterschool (love her).

[ged]

We moved to a rental that is about 1.5 miles away from each school (high school and elementary). I work about 5 miles away. I am a single mom so do all drop off and pick ups. Oldest (now in HS) can walk home when necessary, but bc of sports, she usually stays until 5pm and I can pick her up. Youngest goes to after care on a daily basis and before care when work requires. I've been known to drop off my oldest (at school) as early as 6:30am at times, due to work. For two years we had a good thing where I'd drop off at one school and then the other (start times between both schools were about 5 minutes apart), and then head to work. This year, my oldest has early start (7am every day), so I drop off oldest, go home, scramble around , then drop off youngest, and then head to work.

[GaPeach_in_Ca]

The drive I have from work <-> school can be up to an hour. For 6pm after care pickup, I had to leave my desk by 5pm to be sure to be on time.

Now we are on easy street, though, as my kids are in middle/high school and they are together at the end of my street. They walk themselves to/from school and from school sports (still need a carpool for outside activities). It's so great.

For elementary, I would drop off at school start (8:15 AM) and then get to work shortly after 9AM. And then leave by 5 to pick them up. If there was an emergency, distance during the school day could be as little as 15min depending on time of day since it is all so traffic dependent!