https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Wed, 20 May 2026 01:40:16 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-i-make-my-commute-useful#post-2849128 Thu, 04 Oct 2018 01:48:23 +0000 SweetCaroline 2849128@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm big on podcasts and audiobooks. If I had a long day and I'm tired, I veer toward working mom podcasts. If I'm energized, I veer toward motivational productivity/leadership podcasts.</p> <p>Sometimes I just listen to music, some days I find some awesome jams and sing my heart out :silly: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-i-make-my-commute-useful#post-2849126 Thu, 04 Oct 2018 01:35:13 +0000 bees_knees 2849126@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@codeitall: this isn’t the same as journaling really, but I started keeping little quotes/memories of my kids on an app in my phone. My goal is to someday put all of those memories and pics into a photo book type thing. You know, some day when I have time in 2042 😆 Better than nothing! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-i-make-my-commute-useful#post-2848772 Tue, 02 Oct 2018 18:52:59 +0000 codeitall 2848772@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Pollywog: That is awesome!</p> <p>@Amorini: Appointments are a great idea!</p> <p>I haven't found anything that really does what I want, so it looks like I'll be doing some audio recordings, and uploading them for transcription separately. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-i-make-my-commute-useful#post-2848600 Tue, 02 Oct 2018 08:21:12 +0000 snowjewelz 2848600@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Pollywog: That is AMAZING! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-i-make-my-commute-useful#post-2848548 Mon, 01 Oct 2018 22:05:32 +0000 Bluebonnet 2848548@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Audiobooks! I’m hooked on Audible (and library audiobooks) and listen to books when I’m driving or doing mindless chores (folding laundry, washing dishes, etc). Books hugely boost my happiness and that is time well spent for me. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-i-make-my-commute-useful#post-2848515 Mon, 01 Oct 2018 19:36:50 +0000 Amorini 2848515@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I have about 25 mins between daycare and work in the morning. And then 15 minutes home in the evening. I do a variety of productive and zoning-out things depending on how I feel and what I need to do:<br /> - get a dose of world news/public radio<br /> - audiobooks rarely except for longer work travel<br /> - call my sister or best friend (usually this is on the drive home and these are close people who are okay with a short catch up session)<br /> - work calls and sometimes conference calls that I end up finishing at the office in the morning<br /> - make appts (dentist, vet, hair, car, etc.) I hate the hassle of making appts. And it’s something you can really only do during business hours. So this is one of those chores that feels good to get out of the way while I am my own captive audience. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-i-make-my-commute-useful#post-2848508 Mon, 01 Oct 2018 19:13:05 +0000 Silva 2848508@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I listen to podcasts I enjoy or call a friend, occasionally. Mostly I just enjoy the time alone. That feels pretty useful to me. In the morning I bring my breakfast and coffee, and eat peacefully alone. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-i-make-my-commute-useful#post-2848507 Mon, 01 Oct 2018 19:07:44 +0000 Pollywog 2848507@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I run home. My goal is to beat the bus :-). I'm decompresses and exercised by the time I get home </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-i-make-my-commute-useful#post-2848437 Mon, 01 Oct 2018 14:16:31 +0000 hellobeeboston 2848437@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I consider my commute time, ME TIME... I'm in the car an hour each way, sometimes more :(</p> <p>When I used to take the train I loved to read, so now I listen to audiobooks the majority of the time (Free on Overdrive or Libby through your library). In between audiobooks I have a bunch of podcasts I like. I also sometimes just want to listen to music, although I do that almost all day long while I work.</p> <p> I also use my drive-time as a time to talk on the phone with friends and family! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-i-make-my-commute-useful#post-2848433 Mon, 01 Oct 2018 14:13:28 +0000 looch 2848433@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>If I am driving, I am either listening to WNYC or I am conducting conference calls for my volunteer role.</p> <p>If I am on the train, for about 50 minutes, I use the time to watch shows. I don't like to carry my laptop with me, so the most I can do is reply to short emails. Sometimes I bring magazines. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-i-make-my-commute-useful#post-2848431 Mon, 01 Oct 2018 14:11:44 +0000 snowjewelz 2848431@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I drive 20 minutes each way to/from work and honestly, I just love listening to music and spacing out (in a safe way, lol) because that's literally the only alone time I have! Even podcasts are too much for my brain lol. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-i-make-my-commute-useful#post-2848426 Mon, 01 Oct 2018 13:53:06 +0000 erinbaderin 2848426@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I make my commutes my decompression time between being a functional working adult and a parent to two small kids. So I have a bunch of podcasts, and I keep some snacks in my car, and I consider it personal time. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-do-i-make-my-commute-useful#post-2848424 Mon, 01 Oct 2018 13:34:35 +0000 codeitall 2848424@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I spend about 25 minutes in the car to and from work without my kids. Some days I can take the train and get some work and meal planning in, but when I drive, the most I manage is to listen to NPR or some classical music.</p> <p>I'd love to be able to do some vocal journaling for my kids. I'm terrible at actually writing anything down and I remember being fascinated when I found my mom's high school notebook and wishing she had some when she met my dad and when I was born. Maybe I just need a voice recording app because I'm not finding what I want in Google Play.</p> <p>Any tips? What do you do to make your commutes useful? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/considering-public-transportation#post-2769961 Sat, 26 Aug 2017 07:57:13 +0000 Shree1990 2769961@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Your situation sounds much more appealing to me. My choice was between 40 minutes drive if I go alone, and 1 hour and a half with the car pool. But I still took the car pool. It allowed me to make friends and that extra time helped me sort out a few things for myself. The greatest feeling was that I was doing something for my environment and I consider it the best investment in my child's future. A healthy earth. So I would encourage you to take the more eco-friendly option for your overall benefit. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/considering-public-transportation#post-2769839 Fri, 25 Aug 2017 11:51:21 +0000 periwinklebee 2769839@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@codeitall: Mine is done through my employer. I don't have to do anything, the cost of my transit pass is just taken out of my paycheck, and they automatically take care of it being pre-tax. I don't know exactly, but maybe if you don't have this option it can just be claimed on tax forms ex post or something. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/considering-public-transportation#post-2769829 Fri, 25 Aug 2017 11:42:04 +0000 codeitall 2769829@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Ah! I had a huge response to each of you written up and it disappeared! Ugh. Well, basically you've convinced me ;)</p> <p>I'll check the notice period from daycare and make sure my brother in the area is alright being on call. Charging up my kindle paperwhite to get more reading in and considering going down to one car!</p> <p>@periwinklebee: Do you know if the pre-tax has to be done through the employer? I negotiated my salary to account for them not having a program for public transit. Is it like an HSA where I get the taxes back when I file my taxes if I pay with post-tax dollars? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/considering-public-transportation#post-2769667 Thu, 24 Aug 2017 17:37:50 +0000 PawPrints 2769667@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm a huge proponent of public transit and ride it every day. It enables us to be a one-car family, and even that car has less than 5,000 miles on it in the last 12 months. It's so freeing. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/considering-public-transportation#post-2769627 Thu, 24 Aug 2017 14:47:06 +0000 catlady 2769627@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I have only ever taken public transportation (or walked) to work, so I'd obviously choose that. Hehe. Our daycare gives us an hour lead time if they call and need us to pick up the kids, so I would check on that. But otherwise, the situation you describe is similar to ours (currently, I can walk 30 min to work, and DH has a 45 min commute on public transportation). It's worked out fine for years now. We are lucky that our daycare is extremely close to our home and that has helped in terms of dealing with drop-off/pick-up since technically either of us can do it even though usually it's me. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/considering-public-transportation#post-2769621 Thu, 24 Aug 2017 14:06:17 +0000 periwinklebee 2769621@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I take public transit to work everyday and love it, and will continue to do so after I have a baby in January. We're lucky that we got a spot in a great daycare right next to the station, but even if we ultimately find a different daycare I would try to make it work to cut down on the stress of commuting. I'm assuming that the public transit you have access to is reasonably reliable. </p> <p>Another thing to consider if you do it is that you're allowed to pay up to a certain amount for public transit pre-tax, and many employers will subsidize a share of public transit. I end up after the subsidy paying $40/month, most of which is pre-tax. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/considering-public-transportation#post-2769601 Thu, 24 Aug 2017 13:12:38 +0000 sauerkraut 2769601@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>In your situation, I'd take public transit. I'd probably drive kiddo to daycare, park at the station, and let the daycare know that I'm 40 minutes away in case of emergency (you won't be the only one who can't respond within 10 minutes if daycare calls). Maybe check in with friends/family/neighbors to see if there's someone you could call on who works or lives closer to daycare who could respond quickly if there was a true emergency.<br /> I loved being able to ride public transit when I lived somewhere it was possible. You can actually do something on the train (I read so much). Now I feel like commuting by car sucks up two hours of every day that could be put to much better use. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/considering-public-transportation#post-2769593 Thu, 24 Aug 2017 12:31:56 +0000 avivoca 2769593@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>If I could take public transit, I would do it, hands-down. Theoretically, I CAN take the bus from my daycare, but it's a lot faster for me to drive, even with traffic (the bus would take AT LEAST an hour). So in an ideal world, I would drive to daycare, park, drop-off, and then take the bus.</p> <p>I did take the bus downtown when I was on jury duty and it was awesome. I loved it and it only took 30 minutes because it was an 'express' line. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/considering-public-transportation#post-2769591 Thu, 24 Aug 2017 12:29:28 +0000 erinbaderin 2769591@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think in your situation, I would take public transit. I'm in a similar situation and have drive, but the difference for me is that the public transit I would be taking is the bus, which goes on the same highways I'm driving on, so traffic is going to be a factor either way. Public transit would be cheaper, but not necessarily faster or more convenient. For you, it sounds like it will be faster and more convenient, so I think the trade off of less flexibility is worth it. If there was a daycare emergency that absolutely couldn't wait for the next train you could take a taxi - it wouldn't be cheap but in that kind of huge emergency you probably wouldn't care. Most things (kid has a fever, etc) can wait a little bit. My job is, best case scenario, a 45 minute drive from daycare (assuming my kids get sick at 3am on a weekend :wink: ) and it's never been a problem. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/considering-public-transportation#post-2769573 Thu, 24 Aug 2017 11:35:29 +0000 codeitall 2769573@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Well ladies, I got the job! :grin: But now my little commute of 15 minutes with the daycare dropoff... is going to be at least 25 minutes (with no daycare stop and without traffic haha). Plus, construction on the freeway exits around my new office starts up in a few months, and will run for a couple years :shocked: But taking the train is only 35 minutes with a bonus of a little walk to my office building.</p> <p>My train station is an 8 min drive from my house and 5 min drive from daycare. So I'd still have to drive to the station. And it only runs every half hour.</p> <p>In theory, I could also carpool with someone else in my neighborhood, but she has a daycare drop off too and neither of our cars can handle all 3 car seats.</p> <p>Basically, for those of you that take public transportation (or carpool), is it worth losing some convenience/flexibility? How do you handle daycare drop off and pickup? What happens if you have a daycare emergency? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/weighing-commute-vs-price-of-home/page/2#post-2747864 Thu, 15 Jun 2017 11:43:57 +0000 oliviaoblivia 2747864@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm a big fan of not commuting.<br /> We have a small house with a small yard in a fabulous location very close to downtown.<br /> I avoid buckling three kids into the car like the plague so I cannot imagine living in the burbs. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/weighing-commute-vs-price-of-home/page/2#post-2747772 Thu, 15 Jun 2017 09:49:18 +0000 mediagirl 2747772@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I've been there. I had a 1.5 hour commute from MD to DC and it was bad. I wasn't even married at the time and it was draining. Honestly, we moved out of the area so we wouldn't have those awful commutes anymore. </p> <p>At this stage in life I'd take a smaller house with a smaller yard with a shorter commute. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/weighing-commute-vs-price-of-home/page/2#post-2747757 Thu, 15 Jun 2017 09:09:40 +0000 Modern Daisy 2747757@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Yeah it really all depends on what exactly you are getting with the shorter commute. Like I would need to live in a family friendly neighborhood with a yard in a great school district so as long as you're getting all that might as well go for shorter commute!</p> <p>We moved farther out but it wasn't exactly planned since I got my job in the city after we bought our house. I dream of moving closer one day but we live in an awesome affordable area with great schools and my husband has a short commute.. so I'm outnumbered lol! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/weighing-commute-vs-price-of-home/page/2#post-2747740 Thu, 15 Jun 2017 08:39:11 +0000 T.H.O.U. 2747740@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@shabang: I think it also maybe depends on the house differences. Are we talking a 2 bedroom condo versus a large house on an acre? What lifestyle do you want? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/weighing-commute-vs-price-of-home#post-2747739 Thu, 15 Jun 2017 08:37:06 +0000 shabang 2747739@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Thanks for all the thoughtful perspectives! </p> <p>It's hard when everything is a trade-off. Unfortunately, neither one of us has too much flexibility in working from home. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/weighing-commute-vs-price-of-home#post-2747728 Thu, 15 Jun 2017 08:16:27 +0000 TemperanceBrennan 2747728@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>It all comes down to personal priorities. I don't like driving/commuting, but others enjoy the alone time and don't mind a big commute. I don't like spending time maintaining a large yard/house (mowing, weeding repairs, cleaning, accumulating a bunch of stuff) and don't want to pay for someone else to do that stuff for me, but others think of it as a hobby, or very much value kids having a lot of room on their own property.<br /> For me, it would be smaller house, less commute, closer to the city - no question. A close friend has the complete opposite perspective and commutes a hr everyday and has a large house with a lot of land in the country. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/weighing-commute-vs-price-of-home#post-2747708 Thu, 15 Jun 2017 07:33:38 +0000 babypugs 2747708@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We went for the house in the 'burbs, although my "long" commute is 30 minutes (45 with heavy traffic) so not quite as bad as what you're talking about. I love the space and LOVE LOVE LOVE having a huge yard, but even that commute can be draining when I'm desperate to get home and see my babies. Our daycare is near our house, which also means that they spend a lot longer in daycare than is ideal. It's definitely a trade-off and a super personal decision. Overall I'm happy but I do have days that I dream of moving back downtown. </p>