middle schoolers and transportation?

[♥ms.pacman♥]

i am curious what those who WOH full-time do with middle schoolers, since there is no aftercare. The obvious, easiest and cheapest solution would be for the kid to just take the bus home, let themselves in, and a parent would meet them at home an hour or so later.

However, in my case i am realizing i will likely not be able to do this (boo!!!). thing is, i really want my kids to be in this accelerated math program here. there is an accelerated math program in our school district, that is for 4th thru 8th grade i think. it's only offered at select elementary schools and even fewer middle schools. so for kids who get into the program, they have to transfer schools to attend.

luckily, my kids current elementary school just started offering this program (yay). but for middle school (starting 6th grade) they will have to go to a different middle school than they would otherwise go. For that reason, there would be no bus for my kids to take home.

So, someone would have to pick up my kid every.single.day at 3:30. Bleh.

Yes, this is couple years off still. i am curious though what other people do in this situation?? is this something u hire a sitter for? but 11,12 yo seems rather old for a "sitter".. is this something people use Uber for?

FWIW, there is no way, no how, i would be leaving work every day at 3pm to pick up my kid(s). sitting in carpool pickup for 20 minutes (norm around here) makes me want to heave just thinking about it, not to mention it screws up my day. DH would not be able to reliably do it either.

[PunkyBoo]

When DS1 was in junior high, we had an afternoon "nanny" that picked up my kids after school, got them started on homework, a snack, and hung out until I got home about 4:30-5. I work a super early work schedule so I can leave reasonably early (6:30-4, half hour lunch, alternating Fridays off). The junior high is almost 5 miles from our house, too far for walking home and the streets are too busy and he plays band so can't bring his instrument home on a bike. That was really our only choice. Especially since DS2 has adhd & on the spectrum, we needed supervision for them at home.

This year DS1 is in high school, 2.7 miles from home on a very busy street and we don't have the nanny anyone- he either catches the bus home or has to sit around the front of school to wait for me (usually) or DH (rarely) to pick him up.

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[niccig]

DS walked home 2 miles. He can’t walk now because of a leg injury, but another parent can get him. We can take her son to school in the morning so it works out. DS gets out at 2:45. I pick him up one day to take to physical therapy, I can use certain amount of my sick leave for care of family member, so I use that to leave early. DS is usually home about 90 mins before I get home.

There’s no busing here in SoCal. Either a parent picks up, kids walk home, or carpool.

I’d not worry just yet about middle school. Maybe they’ll change the schools that offer the math program, maybe they’ll include bussing or you could carpool with another parent.

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[westwoodmom04]

I have an afternoon nanny, she arrives around 2, let dogs out, pick up kids at school (private school with no bus service), make sure they started homework/ate something, and then dropped them off at sports practice. She would also do laundry and run errands. The only issue is that you have to pay enough and give enough hours to make it worthwhile.
Another option would be college students, they are usually not as helpful on the housekeeping side, but can do the basic chauffeuring. They are also usually cheaper, but need to be replaced more frequently due to changes in their class schedule/graduating/

[marymoo86]

There's a kid version of Uber here that is specifically for school and sports transportation. Or people hire college kids/HS seniors for after school transportation.

[baymom]

We don’t have a school bus option, but they could take the regular city bus home from school. DS did that in middle school and DD does that now. I have committed to WFH one day and DH tries to one day, as well. So, they only have to take the bus 3-4 days. Is taking the city bus an option for you guys? DD has a couple friends who Uber/Lyft frequently, but I’m not really comfortable with that option. Even as a 9th grader, DS has only used it a handful of times where I felt it was the only viable option.

[HannaAddict]

Afternoon nanny. We needed to still have a nanny for transportation.


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[AnnieW625]

Dd1 (12, 7th grade) does the city bus option as do a lot of high schoolers and middle schoolers in our area. It is a straight shot 2.5 miles from school to our home and she doesn’t need to switch busses.

She started this year.

A lot of people here have after school nannies.

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[specialp]

Afternoon nanny.


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^^Very common here. I have a few friends who work it out with carpool among their kids' friends, but that gets tricky as schedules change from season to season. It is so much easier to have your own nanny or household manager. But who knows what it will look like in a couple of years?

[SnuggleBuggles]

Most parents I know work out their schedules to get home an hour or 2 after their kids. It’s inconvenient but not exactly a long term problem (just a few years). If you can’t do that then hire someone. After school activities have inconvenient times. For example, my ds1 gets done with one activity at 3. Another one he gets home at 2:30 but needs to be back at 4:30, 5 or 6. Better think about all these issues going forward and decide what works for your kids and preferred lifestyle.


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