Balancing career, parenting, chores, cycling..

[LadyinWhite]

your kids, imsho are way big enough to fend for themselves for a bit while mom goes for a nice long ride. Especially on the weekend!! And a 15 year old is way old enough to get herself around and not be dependent on mom for taxi service. Bus pass, bike, walk, carpool, there are many options to mom schlepping. So many kids these days think a mile or two walk to the store or to a friends house or to sports practice is just soooo hard.

My son managed to have all his friends on the other side of town, and I refused to drive him more than a rare occasion, so I bought him a bus pass. Sure the city bus service sucks, but then I don't have to drive. Once they have to figure out how to get themselves around, they get a chance to set their own priorities. His priority was his friends, so he got really good at using the bus.

I do not live in a major metro area, it's more suburban than urban, but we made it work.

Hint, turn the cell phone off on rides. Tell them you'll be gone 2 hours and to bring a book or some homework if their event is over before then.

my kids are currently 17 & 20 but I've been mtb riding 2-5x a week for 10 years.

Mindset is so much of it, how about calling her a soon to be independent young lady instead of a princess? Then treat her like a learning to be independent young lady, instead of a princess.

Wow -

Thanks for all the tips.

Wow...reading your comments makes me realize that my momentary venting painted a picture of my children and my life that isn't entirely accurate.

by the way - I use the term Princess with deep teasing affection. She's no more a princess than any other teenage girl. She is a strong, confident, independent young woman who is travelling to France alone this summer. But - until she can drive, she still needs a lift to the library for her study group on wed(she's in the top 10 of her class) and until she can drive, she still needs to be picked up from the HS on Monday evenings (the pull out Fine Art program drops her off at 5:20pm and there is no after school bus) she still needs a lift to the local hospital on thursday afternoons (she candy stripes). She does, however, ride her bike to her local fine art classes on Tuesday afternoons (she's an amazingly talented artist). Soon I will need to drive her to her p/t job - as she is working to defray the cost of her upcoming trip.

As for the weekends - leaving them alone isn't a problem. I'm saying right now that I choose to not ride on the weekends so I can attend my son's baseball games or participate in local community events.

Thanks for all the great posts - I appreciate the feedback. I loved reading about how everyone balances their careers, their families and their passion for cycling.

I just regret painting a picture of the put upon mother.

[maillotpois]

Lady in White - I didn't get "put upon" from your post, FWIW. I did get some real innovation in terms of how you were squeezing in rides in your speare time, though!

[Bikingmomof3]

Lady in White - I didn't get "put upon" from your post, FWIW. I did get some real innovation in terms of how you were squeezing in rides in your speare time, though!

What Sarah said on both accounts.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

by the way - I use the term Princess with deep teasing affection. She's no more a princess than any other teenage girl.

This reminds me of how a few years ago DH's son (now 22) played the lead in his high school production of "Hamlet" when he was 17. After that we sometimes referred to him as The Prince of Denmark, or simply The Young Prince. It did suit him though, as he did struggle for a while with the horrifying notion that he actually had to WORK to get many of the things he wanted.

[Bklynmom]

I was just sitting here thinking that I really should not be thinking about cycling and get back to working on my business project, but I can't resist participating in this great discussion. It is amazing that we all have such different lives and they all seem to be working pretty darn well.

I have just been able to fit serious cycling into my life, with the support and encouragement of my husband of 20 years, who has been able to take over our weekend baseball marathon with our 2 boys (9 and 13).

My career really helps it all work. About 10 years ago I quit my boring day job and followed my passion and eventually became a professional photographer. I shoot about 2 X a month and otherwise spend a fair ammount of time on the computer working on photos. Because I have the flexible schedule, I can ride when the kids are in school, and usually one long ride on the weekend.

And yes, my 13 year old does come up and say how proud he is that I rode 61.89 miles yesterday - that really rocks!