Preschool honeymoon ends

I feel like Gabriel’s first couple of months of preschool were a honeymoon period.  Sure, I had my initial qualms about giving up the convenience of childcare that was literally just a half-block away (or free public preschool that’s just a few blocks away), but, with the help of lovely fall weather, we settled into a pretty decent routine: Matthew taking G to school on Big Blue most days, and my MIL dropping G off in the afternoon (for the record, it would work for Matthew to pick G up at school most evenings, but my MIL likes spending the afternoon with G; they’re usually out and about anyway, so she just drops him off on her way home). About once a week, I take G in the morning so Matthew can make it to an early yoga class.

With the exception of a couple of rainy days, and a couple of mornings where I was headed somewhere in the car anyway, we’ve made it work with the bikes.  We even made it work on the cold mornings last week, bundling G up in layers for the ride.

And then yesterday it snowed.  It was little enough snow, and the streets were still warm enough, that the roads (even those they don’t treat or plow) are almost 100% clear this morning.  But there are still a few icy patches, and, not knowing exactly what the route would look like, Matthew opted not to bike.

A year ago, that would have been really easy — Matthew grabbed the bus and I walked G the half block to Mrs. L’s house.  Unfortunately, the bus that is so convenient for getting Matthew from our house to work is not terribly useful for getting G to preschool.

So this morning we spent ten minutes scraping off the car.  Ten minutes (sucking exhaust) in which I could have walked G to Mrs. L’s and been back inside our house already.*  Ten minutes in which I could have walked G to the neighborhood school and been on my way back home.  And it’s only the middle of November!

I’m hoping we’ll still be able to bundle up and bike most days, but if the precipitation this winter is anything like last, I’m afraid we’ll be car-bound more often than not over the next four months.**  Sigh.

It’s not forever — it’s just now, just this winter (okay, and probably next winter, too).  I don’t have to like it, but I imagine I’ll get used to it.

*To be fair, the beloved, oh-so-convenient Mrs. L’s is actually not an option anymore.  A month after G started preschool, I found out Mrs. L retired (which shot my back-up childcare plan!).

**Getting G to school without a car (on the days we feel conditions are not safe for biking) would be very tricky — transferring buses, waiting on lines that run infrequently, etc.  So, while part of me longs to be car-free, I am aware of our privileged position, to choose biking most of the time, while still having a car for bad weather, tricky timing, etc.