scilly

No, I was not that lazy ........... it took no time to walk, even with a toddler!

I however was not used to doing even that small distance in 90 to 100F temperatures, which it was for several weeks that year.


NOTE:- please think before you post, and do not make remarks like that about people that you know nothing about!

2 km is impossible for me now .......... much to my regret.

Oakvillian

Just thought I'd add my $0.02 on this thread. I spent the first few years in Canada commuting to downtown Toronto from Oakville. Driving was never remotely an option - my office was in the TD Centre, a scant couple of blocks from Union Station, and there was an Oakville Transit bus route from the end of my street to the GO station. My journey time, door to desk, was around 45-50 minutes; that to me was a perfectly acceptable commute given that I'd swapped out a slog via either SouthWest Trains or the vagaries of the District Line from Chiswick into central London.

I wouldn't have contemplated commuting by train from anywhere except the Lakeshore GO line - more frequent trains in rush hour, and none of the bus-service-outside-peak-hours nonsense that plagues the inland lines. Equally, I would not have contemplated driving into Toronto every day - and still wouldn't.

After a couple of years of, successively, driving out to the soulless offices just south of the 401 by Pearson, schlepping all the way across town the the borders of Richmond Hill and Markham, and now a 15-20 minute drive to an office by the harbour in Port Credit, I know I have struck lucky with my current commute and intend to keep it that way for a while!

To return to somewhere near the OP's salient questions: your timetable looks pretty familiar to me, too. I don't know of a school that doesn't have some sort of before- and after-care programme, often facilitated by the YMCA or similar, on school premises. Or there are any number of after school clubs and childcare cooperatives that operate nearby. Getting to Oakville GO is perfectly possible by city bus; buses and trains are both astonishingly reliable if your frame of reference is any of the London commuter lines! I almost fell off my seat in amazement the first time I heard the train conductor make a PA announcement to apologize profusely for the fact that we'd arrive in Toronto three minutes late. And that was after a couple of months of daily journeys...

sharkus

Good point about before and after care. My son's pre-school was provided by the YMCA at the local school. 7am - 6pm. He has been in a YMCA before and after school programme since he was in JK, and is still in there for Grade 1. Again 7am - 6pm.

If you want more info on it: Before and After School Child Care - YMCA of Oakville

He's far from alone in being there before and after school, so isn't some kind of odd-kid-out.

I highly recommend it

One other comment about Lakeshore GO service. If you need to get to Exhibition GO station (Liberty Village for the working aspect of things) then Oakville GO is very handy as there are quite a few trains that start from there and make all stops. Actually, during the early rush hour, that is the main option if you need to get to Exhibition GO.