Children Catching the Bus

delain

Savvy sue thats a good point. My DD1 would ask the driver (to be fair most of the ones in our village route know us anyway!) But some kids would need telling to ask the driver if you aren't sure where you are, or even "can you tell me when we get to (wherever) stop please"

balletshoes

OP what will you do if your son's mum refuses to allow him to take the bus to and from your home?

itzmee

nfollows1982 wrote: »

Thanks for the advice.

It's a route he will have travelled plenty of times with his mum, although I'm not sure if he's ever done it on his own.

It's something that I have to approach his mum with as a compromise and I didn't want to suggest if it she's likely to deem it totally unnacceptable.

I did this with my son when he was 11/12. He had travelled the route of the 40 minute journey many times with his dad, and luckily the bus went near both our houses. I was getting fed up of travelling back and forth every other weekend, so suggested the idea to his dad that our son travel on his own. Ex was outraged at first and insisted on collecting ds for the first few weeks - then he realised it was easy to meet him off the bus and he saved money into the bargain too! I also reasoned that our son walked to and from school on his own, so why couldn't he go on the bus on his own and be met at both ends?

nfollows1982

balletshoes wrote: »

OP what will you do if your son's mum refuses to allow him to take the bus to and from your home?

It's nothing to do with him coming to my house, I live over 60 miles away from where his mum lives, it's a suggestion that would makes things slighter easier for me and my mum when we take him to football.

We are happy to pick him up in the morning and take him to football but as he lives accross town from the ground, it can take anything up to an hour to get him home in the car and another hour and a half to get home.

Me and my mum are getting his ticket again next season but my mum wants to put this suggestion forward as she doesn't think it's fair that we're not getting home until nearly 8pm when the game is finished by 5pm.

Up until this month, my mum has been doing this on her own for the last 6 months and she has approached my son's mum to help with collecting him from football (they don't drive but busses are available, lots of family members drive and ferry them about all the time) but nothing ever comes of it so we felt this was an alternative solution if they can't be bothered to have him picked up.

JimmyTheWig

I don't understand.

Is he playing or watching?
Who does he go to football with?
Is it on a day when he is "with" you or his mum?
Who would make sure that he gets on the bus after the match?

nfollows1982

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

I don't understand.

Is he playing or watching? Watching.
Who does he go to football with? Me & my mum.
Is it on a day when he is "with" you or his mum? We pick him up from home on matchdays, generally every other Saturday.
Who would make sure that he gets on the bus after the match? I would. I can take him to the bus stop whilst my mum queues to get out the carpark then walk round to meet her once I know he's on the bus

I've answered as above. Cheers.

JimmyTheWig

Oh I see.
So you pick him, watch the game but then want to avoid going home via his?
Fair enough.
So really, to all intents and purposes, it's like him going back home from your house. Only it isn't your house it's the football ground.
This doesn't change anything for me.

Other than the "football supporters" angle of it.
Might there be an issue with rival fans? I'm certainly not suggesting they might start picking on a child, but if there are home and away fans on the same bus then the atmosphere might not be very plesant.
Who do you support? Are they known for trouble?
How does your [strike]wife[/strike] DS' mum feel about "football" and "football fans"? Might this be an issue with her?


By the way, I think this is a great common interest that you are able to share with your son and his nan. I bet many non-resident fathers reading this are jealous!

nfollows1982

For our sins it's Hull City we support. My son lives in Hull and we live in Nottinghamshire but still travel up to the games.

All the away fans are ferried away seperately after the game, either on to their respective coaches or to the car park. We always see the queue for the busses after the game and it's always the home fans that are waiting to get on them (there are numerous football services that run on matchday from outside the ground).

I'm a bit confused about where my wife comes into it though as she is not my DS mum so it's a decison between me and his mum.

It is a great thing to have in common, I've been going with my mum for 20 years and taking my son since he was 5, we've had some great experiences over the years!!

JimmyTheWig

nfollows1982 wrote: »

For our sins it's Hull City we support.

Fair enough. They're certainly not a team you'd associate with problem supporters. Maybe be a little more careful with the arrangements when you're playing Leeds?

I'm a bit confused about where my wife comes into it though as she is not my DS mum so it's a decison between me and his mum.

Sorry. I meant your DS' mum.

geoffky

My daughter has had a 1 hour journey to school since she was 11..
I believe in giving your children freedom to roam and she gets the train all over the place to visit friends who live near her school as she does not have many friends around here with never going to school here..
At the age of 13 i traveled all over north wales with a few friends sleeping in barns and out houses and was what my mother calls a wanderer..
The need to explore even followed me in to adulthood and my working life...
Give you children the confidence to explore and it shines through in other areas of life..