Transporting six children by bike

[shootingstar]

I really wonder if years from now the grown up kids will remember it fondly or wish they could have taken the the car when they had the flu and needed to go to the doctor or get some orange juice. And just the thought of how long it would take to get everyone ready for the excursion makes me want to beat my head against the wall.

And where on earth is dad, besides at work with his car? Do they do anything together as a family? Does he have his own bike and ride along? Does he ever take all the kids anywhere without mom? His absence in this article is glaring.

Am I the only person in TE forums so far, who grew up as a child in a household/family without a car until I was 14 yrs. old? (I am the eldest..)

If I can respond here as a kid who did have some stuff to do in terms of chores, etc.:

When it was cold /icy winter days, I did wish we had a car. I helped my mother pull the grocery cart over the ice. I helped her carry groceries. We took transit at times. Other times, it was a 15 min. walk to large grocery store. A family of 6 children requires alot of food. I mentioned this memory within first 3 paragraphs of this blog post on different farmers' markets that I've visited so far.

What I did, was also expected out of 2 other siblings below me. We took turns. It was my mother who determined who accompanied her each time. Others were too young. But later they each accompanied parents by car to supermarket.

Did I resent it? Of course, any teenager resents a chore/ adult responsbility at times. But what is the point of protecting children from drudgery of chores at times? If a kid is given lots of time to do a chore at their pace and only carry small weights of stuff, with adult parent near by, then that's the best situation for a child to slowly learn over time about self-sufficiency.

I viewed my upbringing..particularily when we didn't have a car, as how a family learns to cope by helping each other.

When we did get our first car, my father had it to get to work, 40 km. away from home. He worked at restaurant and hence, car wasn't even at home most evenings.

It sounds like...cruelty/harshness to some folks: but keep in mind, we lived in a residential street just 10 min. away from the downtown core. It truly was a liveable, walkable and bikeable area that I lived in....1960's -early 1980's.

My parents could not afford to pay for any team sports. So whatever we were involved were sports/art activities organized by the schools we attended. Those were the days, that we walked to and from school. Or took the local transit bus.

This whole way of living is the only way I've known how to live...near transit, walking and cycling. A childhood/teenage memory where I've lived and how we travelled locally, has influenced every home location that I've chosen for 4 other subsequent cities that I've lived later on, in adult life so far.