Not cycling related exactly.

My wife is out of town with her father who is in the hospital dealing with an infection. She's the one that normally picks up the kids from school. It's a small school with limited busing available. We're outside of the zone.

The school is about 2.25 miles from our house. My 12 year old son will frequently walk and occasionally bike to/from school. Last night, out of the blue, he volunteered to walk his sister (who is 8) home so I didn't have to leave work as early to pick her up. My daughter was excited to try it so I agreed. He'll have a cell phone so he can call if there are any problems.

Now I know part of the reason my son likes to walk is that it gives him a little alone time and makes him feel more independent. I also know that in decades gone by walking a couple of miles to school wouldn't be anything noteworthy. But I'm very happy that in this car centric era my kids are aware that you don't need a car to get everywhere. I'm also happy that my son volunteered to give up some of "his" time to help out the family.