Well, to me anyway, you sound like a pretty cool mom.  Playing with worms and picking wildflowers sound way better than the humiliation that come with pre-school if you aren't "just right".

I love your story!  You should be so proud and confident that your children will be just fine; actually I bet they'll be great.  I hope I can be as considerate a mother as you some day. Thanks for the inspiration.

I've been so inspired by all the photos and stories on Grist about car free living.  I'm so impressed by everyone that bikes multiple children!  I stopped at one kid since my biking thighs are so puny.  We are just now graduating from a chariot to a trail-a-bike, and I'm seriously thinking of an xtracycle.  We bike in the winter until the snow is too deep to get through (with studded tires) and then bus it (winter here in Anchorage can be almost 7 months).  We walk anything less than a mile.  My kid is 5, and I do bike him to camp while I go to work.  My partner has a car he won't give up, so it does get used sometimes.  Funny, I'm into Waldorf and more worried about camp pushing the ABC's on my kid too early than in him not learning them!  To me, childhood should be about imagination, bonding, playing, nature, mud, compost, growing things, etc...the rest will be welcomed in time by a curious mind!  

My birthday present was a new bike.  When asked what accessories I HAD to have, I said, "A basket, pannieres, and a bike bell!"