Saturday was a typical day for a homeschooling family with
multiple children: two different activities scheduled in two different places
at the same time. Looking back at my old
calendar from the non-liberated minivan days, we were in two (or more)
different places at the same time quite frequently. Back then, Minivan-Mom might have lamented
about our one-car-family dilemma, not to mention having only one able-bodied
parent to play chauffeur. I probably
would have dropped 3/5 of the kids at the earlier activity, driven the other 2/5
to the later event, driven back to collect the first three, swung around for
the two, and finally driven home. After
all, the two activities were each less than five miles from our casa, and only
two miles between each other. A 16-mile
roundtrip would have consumed only about one gallon of gas.
The benefits: 5/5 of children attend activities while Handi-Dad
rests quietly at home
The
costs: stressed mom, carbon emissions, $3.50 in gas, no assistance for Handi-Dad
at home
Still, I would have commended myself for a job well
done: keeping
activities <5 miles
from home, combining trips, keeping costs low, and still not giving in to the
American two car family standard.
 |
| Prepping a hole for tree planting |
Not so for Carfree Family!
After a year of being liberated from our one mini-van, we’re proficient
with mass transit mapping and travel via TriMet. Handi-Dad has been transformed into
Carfree-Dad,
120 pounds lighter, suffering less pain, happier, reconnected with nature and
himself, and more involved with the family.
On this Saturday, Carfree-Dad enjoyed participating with 2/5 of the kids
at their activity, while Carfree-Mom reveled in
planting trees with the other 3/5.
The benefits: 5/5 of children attend activities, unstressed parents,
quality parent-child interactions, low carbon emissions (busses run on
bio-fuels), outdoor enjoyment, increased physical activity
The
costs: $10.50 in bus fare, 20 minutes extra travel time each direction
If you’re not already convinced that the carfree scenario
wins out in the cost-benefit comparison, here is additional food for thought:
The $10.50 bus fare is really less expensive than $3.50 in
gas, considering the other monetary costs associated with owning a car. This may be important information if you are
weighing monetary costs more heavily than environmental costs.
The 40 minutes total extra travel time is exaggerated considering
the total time Minivan-Mom would have spent chauffeuring between
activities. It also counts for less when
considering the travel time spent walking to and from bus stops, which was
multi-purpose for achieving physical activity and fresh air time goals.
The value of quality family time, increased physical fitness,
decreased stress, and being outdoors : PRICELESS. Going carfree has been not only the end of
our one-car-family dilemma, but the beginning of more joyful times ahead.
