A card from Fair Play by Eve Rodsky
Transportation (Kids)
Full. Time. Job. Whether your kids take a bus, carpool, walk, or have a chauffeur (aka you), managing their transportation can be a beast. On any given day, you could be spending countless hours transporting your kids to school or coordinating with those who are pitching in with drop-offs and pickups. Add on getting them to and from playdates, after-school activities, camp, and every other place they need to be seven days a week, and we’ve come full circle: Full. Time. Job.
Note! The “Transportation (kids)” card pairs with “Birthday Celebrations (other kids),” “Friendships and Social media (kids),” “Extracurricular (non-sports),” and “Extracurricular (sports).” Meaning, if you hold any of the aforementioned cards and they involve giving your kid a ride, you are responsible for transporting or arranging for transportation to and from those activities.
Holding this card means owning all three
Conception
Your kids need transport
Planning
- Coordinating and implementing the commute to/from school, extracurricular activities, enrichment, events, playdates, parties
- If school bus, signing up for appropriate route
- If public transportation, securing bus/subway pass
- If carpool, extra considerations: selecting families that live nearby to carpool with (coordinate booster/car seats); determining schedule for your shift and others’
- Finalizing daily schedule with “calendar keeper”
Execution
- Implementing the commute to/from school, extracurricular activities, enrichment, events, playdates, parties
Suggested Minimum Standard of Care
Are the children where they need to be and picked up on time?
A starting point. You and your partner agree the real standard together, and the holder meets it without reminders.
Holding it well
- It’s a Daily Grind: relentless and time-bound. Make sure each of you holds a fair share of these, ideally one from each suit.
- The holder owns all of it: noticing, planning and doing. No “just tell me what to do.”
- Agree the Minimum Standard of Care together, then let the holder meet it their way.
- Not working? Bring it to the weekly check-in and re-deal it. Don’t take it back mid-week.
Put this card on your table
Deal it, agree its standard, and see who holds what. Free.