It’s been 2 years since I left New York City with my family. My younger daughter had been begging for a yard (and a dog) forever and threatened to move to any random place we vacationed that featured outdoor space. Like many New Yorkers, we were still renting, but after 8 years of repainting and redecorating the somewhat limited space for five (including our live-in au pair), my husband pointed out that we should seriously consider buying. After ruling out moving into a smaller apartment in our neighborhood (the au pair would have to go), I fell in love with an old but renovated farmhouse in Connecticut. We left the city hesitantly anticipating that with the move we were also buying into a new lifestyle. We perfectly knew some of the trade-ins: Exchanging one of the most beautiful morning walks to school for school buses. Trading my office commute by subway (30 minutes one way) for a one-hour and 9-minute train ride. Donating our 18-year much beloved old city car (bought on eBay for $ 4000 and only used for weekend trips) for an SUV. And hunting for furniture, lots of it, as it turned out we didn’t have much, leaving a city apartment.
We’re not regretting the move. We love our house, our community, the excellent public schools, and the nearby beaches. We don’t love our commute to the city, but we now try to embrace it as work time on the train. The one thing we didn’t expect?
The many hours spent in a car driving the girls.
Soccer practice, orchestra, tennis, swimming (twice a week), art, chamber, before and after school; Opportunities for sports and extracurricular activities are endless (and come at a fraction of the city cost) but none of them are in walking distance. Each one requires a car ride, never longer than 5-10 minutes, but those driving times add up.
We bought a second smaller car (and really felt suburban) and delegated some of the driving to the babysitter. Still, when doing an early morning school drop-off for orchestra practice, I couldn’t help but notice the traffic caused by all the parents bringing one kid to school. The many rides it takes to drive ten girls individually to soccer practice and the sheer nightmare of coordinating several schedules to organize carpooling kids to school and activities.
Still, I reached out to neighbors and parents and started carpooling. The amount of time and patience needed to coordinate the rides was and is horrendous. Chains of emails, confirmations, cancellations, and ride swaps can take more time than the fast drive to school, right? Thanks to a neighbor from Thailand who briefed everyone on ‘no single purpose ride’ I kept on trying – and looking into alternatives for the many emails, SMS, and Excel sheets we were swapping.
Working in technology and innovation technology I was convinced this wasn’t the best way for carpooling kids. There had to be some solution…. So the journey began (December 2014)
