My 13 yr old walks to school about a block and a half @ 1600 feet. Well I have to take my other son to school and our duaghter to preschool. When he is ready I take him and drop him off. No big deal. What is a big deal is when I am walking out the door with others he is still not ready. If I leave later then 7:30 the school traffic, and the lights really slow me down. Not to mention the elementry school drop off line is a good 10 min. So if he is not ready on time I warm him he is going to have to walk.
Would you make him walk if he is not ready when you are??
Well.... that is exaclty what I did this morning. I warned him 5 min before we left. As I got my younger kiddos coats on, grabbed my purse we headed out the door and said goodbye. As I drove away he was at the front door with no shirt on, he turned and closed the door. I felt really bad, but I was running late could not wait any longer. I am curious if he will be on time for a ride in morning.
It's the 13 year old that is not ready, right? He can walk. And he will have to deal with any tardies that rack up.
Hi Viola-
I would definitely make him walk...
I would bet that as weather gets colder and yuckier...he will get quicker!!
Best Luck!
michele/cat
Absolutely, no question...he'd be walking. My 12 year old walks further and I offer him rides, but he wants to walk.
Bottom line, I would not wait for the teenager.
Does he have a key to lock up the house? That would be necessary in order to leave before him.
P.S. - We really live in Calgary...and my son walk in -20 degrees, with snow
Yes, make him walk. He will probably only have to do it once before he learns his lesson. My son used to take forever getting dressed, one morning I told him I was leaving in 5 minutes and if he wasn't ready, he was going in whatever he had on. When it came time to leave, he only had his underwear on. I carried him out to the car screaming and crying and drove to daycare with him in just his underwear. I did bring his clothes and dress him before walking in but he learned his lesson! Now he is dressed and ready to go when I say.
A block and a half? Yeah, he should be walking that. Next year my son will start HS. He'll be 14 going on 15, the HS is about 1/2 mile away. He will be walking to and from school. At the very least, he'll be getting a 1 mile walk per day, which is healthy in and of itself.
Make him walk--he is 13 and it is less than 2 blocks. We walked to school starting in 3rd grade (with other kids, no parents). I think I had my own house key at 10 in case I got home before my mom. At 13 I was babysitting!
A block and a half at age 13? Why isn't he walking anyway? Yes, he should be walking. If he gets a tardy then slam him hard with a punishment to nip it in the bud fast.
My two older boys started walking to school or riding their bike further than that at age 8.
K. B
mom to 5 including triplets
14? Yeah. Boy'd be walkin'!
Uh yeah. My 10 & 12 year old's walk to school & have been doing so for 3 years.
He should be walking anyway. My son is also 13 and he walks home from school which is about 6 blocks. He's more than old enough to walk to and from school and he will learn about consequences when he's late because he lolly gags and is late to school.
hahaha I walked 5 blocks to elementary school, starting from 2nd grade by myself...my mom only took us in bad weather. 13 years old? Absolutely. Or buy a taser. LOL - just kidding moms...
Yes. take a load off your shoulders and make him walk to and from. for the last 3 years i Have had to drive my kids to school taking about 15 min (we lived on an actual island) one bridge only 2lanes on/off. Pending there were no backup. I took my daughter to school one day in the 2nd grade with one shoe on and the other off. I dropped her and her shoe off at told her to get to class. After the first few times of her lolly dolling. They knew it was time to go could finish superficial stuff in the car. Since we moved to a different area close to school, my kids walk 10-15 min to school and a 5-8 min bike ride. They have to stay together but they are 8 & 9 years old
Have him walk.
He's a big boy and walking and fresh air is good for him.
In fact, walking on a regular basis maybe should become the norm unless the weather is particularly ugly some mornings.
Absolutely.
My SS was slothlike in the mornings and had to catch a bus with a not very close stop. When he kept missing the bus, we started charging him. $10 for every "taxi ride" because he would make one of us go out of our way. Funny, a few no-fun weekends because he had no money and he learned to get out of the house on time. We have also almost left him for a fancy dinner on vacation. He ran out the door with his shoes in his hands when the other kids said we were serious and getting in the car. I think 13 is old enough to walk if he can't "catch the bus" so to speak.
My sks walked home from middle school starting at age 11.
No because I would be fearing what could go wrong and driving myself nuts the entire time, but I would support others doing this because he is 13. I used to walk home 7 miles on days I didn't have a ride after activities.
I would definitely leave him to walk. It certainly won't hurt him and it's a lesson in the world does not revolve around you!
Of course he should be walking. No scene...just leave when you are ready. If he's not in the car, he walks. He's not a little kid anymore. Don't waste your time feeling badly about it. You're doing him more harm than good by coddling him (IMHO).
I make my kids, get ready AHEAD of the time, I actually 'need' them to be ready by.
And I always, get them loaded into the car, about 10 minutes before I actually have to.
That way, we are not late.
It takes the kids at least 5 minutes, to get into the car and all their gear.
I NEVER, wait until the actual time that we have to leave, to be ready by.
I make it, at least 10 minutes AHEAD of time.
For all of us.
We are never late.
I also, make sure to get to school, BEFORE we have to. Not down to the wire. At least, 10 minutes before. Then we are actually there, ON time.
