Megan Hazen

Well, not all the parts are in, so we have at least one more enforced car-less day. Again, a day we can do; William has even been fairly cooperative on our walks.

Note: Yesterday i needed some groceries, as we didn't go over the weekend. We accomplished this on foot, so, its not ONLY those crazy Europeans. Actually, if we have shopping to do during the week i normally go on foot, mostly to the PCC near Madeleine's school. I prefer to try and get most of our shopping done over the weekend, at the bigger, less-expensive, less-restricted-product store that we drive to. I suppose if i almost never drove to the store i'd have to be less happy with my grocery store; I can go further than PCC especially if i take the bus, but Central Market is too far. One of these days there will be a bigger PCC near by which might improve things a little bit; what if we could do a once-per-month car based shopping extravaganza?

One of the things the conversation here has been making me think is that we really could go car-less. It would require sacrifice, but we could do it. If i got a bus pass i could do most of the things we're doing this week via bus, and not feel quite as limited as i do without it. Come summer we might be able to add some biking to our repetoire. Bigger sacrifices would be trips to see friends that are further afield, the big shopping trips, and some of the kids activities. We could do those things on a less regular basis by adding in a zipcar, or maybe finding kids' classes that are closer to home, but it would be a pretty big change to a much more home-body lifestyle. It is an adjustment to how you view what is necessary to have a satisfying lifestyle. (I wonder how often you can use a zipcar and still break even on money.)

I dunno. Its an idea, but i really don't think i'm ready to accept it yet.

I like to do car-less days occasionally. The idea is pretty simple: don't turn on the car for the duration of the day. I hadn't done one in a while, but Wednesday worked out.

The motivation for car-less days has three main drivers - 1) with no car we are forced to stay closer to home, slow down a bit, choose what we do more carefully. There is no rushing around to random errands or trying to squeeze in too many visits when you have to walk there, or plan for a bus ride. Often car-less days end up with us staying at home the whole day, and sometimes those days are needed. 2) If we do go out we walk, and walking is good, and sometimes walking is needed. 3) The world is getting warmer, the air is getting worse, and some days trying not to panic about this is needed. As much I think alternatively powered cars are very cool and useful, ultimately the only real way to save energy is to not use so much energy.

So Wednesday, how does it go? We walk Madeleine to school, and then walk home. I fill the yard waste bin with leaves while William and Marie play outside. William and i spent the whole day inside the house - many games and a few puzzles later, we walk to school, and walk home with Madeleine and Elaine. A benefit of this walk, and the fact that it wasn't currently raining, is that the kids get to hang out and have a snack with friends at school. I think all the kids involved were happy for some free-fresh-air, because they ran and played well until we decreed it time to go. We get home and the kids decorate the sugar cookies that William and I had mixed in the morning. We read books, take baths, and get to bed.

This Wednesday was not the easiest day ever - car-less days are much easier when the weather is nice and we walk to a playground, or at least play in the yard. The truth of this day is that i went inside not because i was done raking, but because both kids were yelling. And the truth of the long hours while Madeleine was at school is that it was a constant battle to keep William from getting crazy on me. But it worked, and it was probably good for us.

(Aside: I really want to walk Madeleine to and from school for these same reasons. I believe that the discipline of walking is useful and good. I believe that busing kids to-and-from when they live less than a mile from school is ridiculous. I believe this is a decision we can make that makes a difference. Still, i find myself finding excuses to drive occasionally. This is because, frankly, William makes life very difficult, and sometimes i don't have the energy to walk him to-and-from the school. As a result i'm contemplating letting Madeleine take the bus sometimes after the new year; if i can't do all the walks in a week, its better to use a combustion engine that will be running whether or not we use it. It stresses me out a bit, though. I love the walks, and i love the habit, and hope that we can make it more permanent and consistent, but i'm trying to respect that sometimes i've got to give up my ideal here to be a better parent.)