Living Car Free - Suburban mom of a toddler...finally car-lite!

Today was Day One.

My lovely 14-month-old daughter, Ms. Fussy Butt, decided that she would actually keep her bike helmet on in the trailer without throwing a tantrum.

This has opened up my world! Now, all the places that I would normally drive the baby to, even though they're only a mile and a half away (Target, the park, coffee, liquor store, 7-11) are within bike distance. So I went to Target, took Ms. Fussy Butt to the park, then went out for coffee with my brother. 4.25 miles and one sunburn later, I'm happy.

I'm Jen, by the way, a 26-year-old suburb dweller. My house was built in the 1960s. It has five rooms and five inhabitants, and we have three motor vehicles to split amongst ourselves. I'm not going completely car-free, as there are some times when the baby and I need a car (sub-zero temperatures, Costco diaper runs, visiting relatives across town, etc.)...a car is a useful tool sometimes.

Hi. Expect some n00b questions. :D

congratulations. that's a big step. Wait till your daughter is potty trained. That helps a lot too (no more lugging around wipes, diapers, etc.)!

i ride around town with my 3 year old. originally, he didn't want to wear his helmet (when he was about 18 months) but after a while, he got used to the helmet and got used to riding around town in his bike seat. At age three he usually enjoys our rides (he's moved from the bike seat to a bike trailer now). It's a lot of fun, in spite of the extra weight I have to haul around. We ride to the library, park, grocery store, doughnut shop, etc..

Good luck and enjoy your time with your daughter!

Congratulations Jen! I'd imagine that even going car-lite could be a challenge with a toddler, but it will be worth it.

Congratulations!

I'm not a frequent visitor to this forum but just wanted to say good luck and thumbs up!

Whee! Glad to hear she's not fussing about her helmet anymore :)

congrats.

welcome.

Nice! We are car-lite during the week and usually car-free on the weekends, using a Wike trailer. We have two young boys, a 3.5 year old and a 14 month old. Both prefer the trailer to the minivan when asked. The 14 month old sometimes has issues with his helmet, but I've found that if his brother, momma and daddy are all wearing their helmets (and making a show of smiling and enjoying them) usually we can get his strapped on without too much drama.

It's been a process for us, but really enjoyable. Sometimes it's frustrating for one or more of us, but we try to keep our patience and overall we are lucky because we all truly enjoy being out on the bikes & trailer.

I'm finishing up an Xtracycle conversion this weekend, which will because the new family machine. That's going to make things a lot easier... more load capacity and more gears (I'm currently towing with my fixed gear! LOL)

You can do it!

Steve