The Taxi Service Of Mum and Dad

· by · in Family. ·

My mum often called herself a taxi driver, ferrying myself and my siblings to various after-school activities – swimming, dance classes, karate, piano lessons. Hey she still calls herself a taxi driver, picking up my brother from the station after nights out – well that better change now he’s married! 😉

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As for me, this may the beginning of being the ‘taxi service’. At the moment I walk everywhere with Tyler, with our after-school activity being Lego at The Curve once a week. But I feel from next term, I will have to start taking him to more after school activities – he is getting quite restless as he is getting older. I used to drive him to Little Kickers on Saturdays, which he loved, but stopped when he started school so that we could have our weekends free. Now I’m thinking to do some after-school activities like swimming or football, I just have to look into local classes in Berkshire.

It shouldn’t be too difficult to find classes as, according to a recent survey conducted by Subway, Berkshire parents drive to the most after-school activities each week, an average of SIX, with 10% making up to 12 trips weekly. I don’t think I’ll be making that many trips! The survey is quite interesting though, so I’ll share some more stats with you.

  • The smallest number of trips to after school activities is made in the Isle of Wight, averaging four a week.
  • Parents in Surrey drive the furthest, an average of 95 miles a month to after school activities.
  • Kent parents will go furthest afield in a single trip, on average over 12 miles from home.

This dedication to making sure the kids get to enjoy their after-school activities is taking its toll on families lifestyle with 46% of parents admitting they provide their children with food to eat but do not eat anything themselves. In addition, 51% of parents admit they miss dinner completely because they are taxiing their kids to clubs.

This is where Subway comes in handy as they have created Kids’ Pak™ deals for children on-the-go. They can choose from a range of Mini Subs with a Robinsons Fruit Shoot My-5 or water, and a BEAR Pure Fruit Yoyo.

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Baby Tyler’s First Time at Subway

Some more interesting findings came out from the survey:

  • 70% of parents said they were happy to take other people’s kids to after school and weekend activities.
  • Over a third of kids attend football practice with performing arts another rising favourite, with 54% also attending music, dance and singing classes.
  • Traditional British activities haven’t completely disappeared, with one in four (28%) still attending Guides, Brownies, Cubs or Scouts.
  • The results also uncovered the rise of less conventional child activities including yoga, golf, public speaking, circus skills and cooking lessons.

What do you reckon, do you think Tyler will like playing golf?? Do you take your child to after-school activities? If so, which ones, and how do you deal with meals on-the-go? Let me know in the comments!

Sabrina x

Disclosure: This is a collaborative post

24 responses to “The Taxi Service Of Mum and Dad”

  1. I love statistics – do you have a copy of this full report?

    I like that your decided to keep weekends free when school started – that sounds really wise and sensible. Our eldest starts school in September, not sure what activities we might explore with him.

    What do they do at Lego club? 🙂

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    • Hehe, it is interesting seeing those numbers! That’s all the stats I have, but I think Subway have the full report. Ooh good luck with your little one starting school. Lego club is really cool, they just set up tables with boxes of lego bricks at our library, and the kids built something new each week. They love it!

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  3. T has swimming, gymnastics and ballet. I know, sometimes I find it too much. But she genuinely enjoys all of them. I think that’s what’s important, to find one that they really like and not because we, the parents want them to 😉

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  4. Wait until they get older and then you’ll be taxi and bank 😜 I think golf sounds great, it’s such a different thing to do!

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  6. My dad still acts like my taxi sometimes haha! But now I have a car I have started to see how much running around I am doing, from running classes and gymnastics to swimming!

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  9. My eldest is 13 and I am very much the taxi driver! I take him all over, to football, to see his mates shopping…I dread my youngest three needing a lift too!

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    • When I was in my twenties, my younger sister was a teenager and I remember driving her around to her mates and to piano lessons! Hopefully your eldest will help out when he’s driving!

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  12. We walk! Many things are so local or run by the school that I make them walk. Beavers is over a mile away so Chris does drive Matt to that once a week

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    • I definitely prefer walking – this is why I have done no after-school activities yet, I can’t be bothered with driving! There’s nothing at our school though, so I’ll have to make the effort to drive to some activities next term, ugh! x

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  13. I am certainly ‘Mum’s Taxi’ with 6 kids. My eldest is 24 but even now I get a phone call to rescue her after a night out. I ferry my son to work and we have an after school club almost every evening

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    • Ahhh you are just like my mum, she does that for my siblings – they are 33 and 24 lol! I don’t know when you are meant to stop being the taxi driver, it’s hard to say no! x

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