A Day on Public Transportation

We live near the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit line and my daughter Lilah sees the trains go by on a daily basis. For months I had been promising her that I would take her for a BART ride into San Francisco. Of course, a full-day adventure to another city on public transportation can seem like a chore with kids since you have to prepare for a variety of ‘eventualities.’ We packed up her sippy cup, some toys, her blanket, a jacket (after all it is San Francisco and is surprisingly chilly in the summer), some snacks, and headed off to the BART station. Once there, I realized I had forgotten the bag with her toys and the sippy cup. Isn’t that the way it always happens?

Lilah on her BART ride to San Francisco

When the train came, Lilah was so excited. She couldn’t contain herself. At every stop she told us about the people that were getting on or off, that they were wearing the same color pants as her, had funny hair or some other LOUD statement. Everyone around us was laughing from the joy that seeing things through a kids eyes can bring. Have you noticed how a child’s happiness (or sadness) can change a person’s day? Ah parenthood.  Anyway, the excitement was more than she could bear and she was asleep by the time we went under the bay (15 minutes).

It was a fun but relatively uneventful day. The shear number of people in San Francisco overwhelmed my girl so it turned into a short but sweet trip. She talks about it often and can’t wait to do it again. Next she wants to ride a bus but that one might have to wait for a while…