By Pam Darling
I made the initial foray into participating in the Smart Commute Week 11 years ago when my son was in the toddler program at the Montessori Children’s House,
then located on North Royal Drive. After seeing the weekly breakfast locations and determining that we could attend Thursday’s breakfast hosted by Munson Medical Center on Sixth Street and be half way to his school, we decided to give Smart Commute a try. With a caboose attached to my mountain bike we set out for our first Smart Commute Week breakfast. Game for any adventure, Clay was delighted to have a bagel and juice served by Meagan of the Munson communications department. We met another parent and child, who was even younger than my son, and enjoyed sharing our experiences on the trails with kids in tow.
The Munson breakfast became a much anticipated annual event for the next two years. Meagan, the Munson host, marveled at how much Clay had grown each year. He wasn’t the only thing growing; his school grew too and had to relocate to a new campus on North Long Lake Road. The annual tradition took on a new twist and one big hill! Clay had progressed to a tagalong, since turning 5. That year, he had an extra bagel at breakfast to ensure he could help peddle up the long Long Lake hill. The exhilaration we both experienced when we crested the top is something we’ll never forget. Cruising past cars idling at the stop light at Barnes Road was memorable too.
After four years of only attending the Munson breakfast on Thursday, we decided to commit to smart commuting other days during the week. We added Tuesday at Oryana to the mix and Mustards on Friday. We quickly realized how much fun we were missing out on, by not attending the other breakfasts, not to mention the great food! A little powdered sugar from the beignets at Mustard’s was the icing on the Smart Commute cake!
Our next challenge for smart commuting came when Clay had outgrown the tagalong. He was able to ride his own bike but I wasn’t willing to let him ride it on North Long Lake Road during the morning rush. The solution to this dilemma was to get a tandem. Tim Brick was happy to loan us one for the week so we could continue the tradition. The first week of June was one we both looked forward to as a signal to the end of the school year and the start of summer.
For fourth grade Clay made the move to TCAPS Montessori at Central Grade School and the logistics of smart commuting became much easier. He was able to ride his own bike and get to school on his own. Looking back on the past 11 years, I never would have guessed that attending one breakfast during Smart Commute Week could have lead us to our current lifestyle. I smart commute year around to work and he walked or rode his bike through sixth grade before moving on to the middle school. Riding the bus is now the much anticipated highlight to the end and start of his school day. Unfortunately his schedule doesn’t allow him to attend the breakfasts this year. He’s looking forward to high school when his schedule will once again allow him to. Circumstances have changed in our lives and instead of using them as an excuse we both have chosen to see them as a challenge to keep smart commuting.
Give it a try!
Filed under: Get Active
