These kiddos just keep getting older, and bigger, and easier to take on public transport! In the past months we've really increased our use of bus and subway, and Wednesday night I realized I was doing the "all five on the subway" thing right on the brink of rush hour. The station was full, and the train arrived full, and on we squished.... thankfully for a quick one-long-stop-down-the-tracks journey.
Really the bus is a much easier option for this particular destination (the girls' Wednesday night Bible club) but at rush hour the bus is a bit of a wild card. Subway trains are crowded but they don't get stuck in traffic. So subway it was.... And on the way out of the station I got this photo of my city kids on the escalator.
After dinner and getting the girls to their meeting the boys and I headed home. This time I was ready for the bus (which drops us off just a block from our house) as opposed to the subway (which is more like a 15 minute walk from our house). Luke and John Paul are both amazing walkers, and they had already covered several miles on foot, but getting closer to home sounded perfect.
Until the bus pulled up and I had second thoughts :)
It was packed to the gills, and I considered waiting for the next one, but my boys were ready to conquer. In theory the elderly, pregnant, and those with young children get priority seating. And honestly people often give up a seat for us. But this time the seats were already full of grandmas and those holding babies and I thought we were in for a bit of lurching until I managed to squeeze back a bit farther and find a young guy in his mid-20s, focused on his phone screen. A quick tap on his shoulder and we had switched places :)
Luke and John Paul squeezed in with me and Isaac held on to the seat and I (rather unsuccessfully) tried to capture the bus scene.
Happy. Blurry. Squishy. Me and the boys on the bus!
And the girls? They can ride the bus home on their own when club is finished. City kids.
[Don't think I'm crazy... public buses are acceptable means of transport for elementary kiddos. There are no dedicated school buses and hundreds of thousands of elementary school kids ride public buses to and from school and activities each day.]
And as a finale, this fun picture of my crew of 5 at the school gates this afternoon. So glad to walk the few blocks to school, traverse the city on the bus, and fly around the world with these precious people.
(and their Daddy, of course! .... who is in the thick of long days and late nights and hours on the road. It is November.)
4 comments:
great post! and hard to believe the kids are so big and doing such big city stuff.
love- a proud grandaddy
Yes, the kids are getting so resourceful and independent. And in a BIG city! We love you all!
Loved catching up on your blog! I agree the kiddos grow up, they seem like they are big and young at the same time, don't they? A hang on to childhood moment at the same time as teaching them to be responsible, adventurous and helpful.
Your travel is truly amazingly different then my daily run. 🙄🙂
The idea of walking here is for very short treks. Humm, crazy.
So good to hear you got to visit friends, away from home. Yep, the planning, going, return home are all three equally anticipated!
Love you all, BN
That is so cool that they are navigating public transportation on their own! I still don't feel comfortable doing that!
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