Transporting six children by bike

[shootingstar]

It doesn't sound like cruelty; it sounds like NYC. When I first moved to lower Manhattan, which had few residential services at the time, I walked much farther than 15 minutes to the grocery store.

Though many stores have delivery nowadays, what you are describing isn't at all unusual for cities. Lots of kids do similar things.

I do wonder if the woman with the six kids takes them all along shopping -- with four in the bakfiets, where do the groceries go?

I am not convinced Pam, that even alot of kids living in cities do what I just described in terms of helping my mother carry groceries walking/taking transit from store over 35 yrs. ago. I don't see that type of scenario often, for all the times I've taken transit often, while living in several big Canadian cities over 1 million people. I just see parents with very young children under approx. 8 yrs. old go on transit.

Only if there is hockey or basketball game in town/other type of event brings a parent(s) with their older children onto transit. Based on what I've seen.

Then there's just a bunch of older teens taking the transit in groups by themselves..from school/movie/cafe, etc.

Just my limited view.

Yes, hard to know how much groceries she can carry with all those children. THere just isn't space for the mega-haul/bike ride homeward. Well, when a few of children get older, they might be required to look after younger ones, while a parent goes grocery shopping.

[chatnoire]

I grew up in a city that is world reknowned for its relationship with the automobile, and we had one in our family for quite some time. My mother would take all 4 of us kids on transit to visit my grandmother 2-3 miles away (by bus) before heading to work, and I recall walking to the store on occasion.

Now, I live in a top 20 bike friendly city, and I can walk to the grocery, ride my bike to the farmers market, yoga, coffee shop, and mass transit, but that's a matter of a house in a good area, rather than the norm. And I don't have to wrangle anyone other than myself (which is hard enough.)

As far as her choice to have 6 kids, it sounds like it wasn't something she was raised to think about, and she seems to be, at some extent, making the best of that "footprint".

[maryellen]

A year or so ago I saw a man transporting 'just' three kids and I was pretty surprised. One in a trailer, one in a child seat behind dad, and one on the handlebars. A mix of admiration and horror that he was brave enough to travel that way in downtown Manhattan. Alas, I did not have the presence of mind to take a photo.