Phil and Ted's double stroller being put to good use. Good for walking to the Shake Shack
Ok, I look slightly under the influence in this picture but I wanted to show what it was like to get around the city...Maclaren and Ergo carrier in the subway. My apartment is being overtaken by strollers.
One major bonus about living in the Upper West Side is easy access to the parks. Of course we all know about Central Park, but I've recently discovered Riverside Park, which is next to the Hudson River. There are so many different playgrounds that we can go to that sometimes I'll take the girls to two different playgrounds (one in the morning and another in the afternoon). If I wanted to go a little crazy, I could hit up four or five playgrounds in one go. There is a playground every three blocks or so along Central Park West. So I guess I feel a little better about paying city taxes if it goes towards maintaining these playgrounds (yes, on top of crazy expensive rent, you have to pay a city tax).
Now that the weather is hot and humid, I'm looking extremely unsexy with my frizzy hair and ghetto clothes while I push the double stroller around in almost 90 degree weather. Somehow, some mothers look really cute, but I just can't pull it off. Sometimes if a mom looks really good I take a long hard look at her to make sure she isn't a celeb. I like spotting some celebrity moms (Elizabeth Hasselback and Caroline Rhea) in the playgrounds. Someone told me Matt Damon and his kids were at Dinosaur Park, a playground that I frequent. I want to see some A-list celebs soon!
I've never seen so many nannies in my life. I know they are nannies because they are a completely different race from the children and a lot of the times, speaking a different language to another nanny, while shouting across the park in English to some child. You can hear about four different languages at any given park at any given time. Many children are multi-lingual. It makes me feel guilty about not teaching Ava Mandarin.
People are very opinionated about parenting here. Parenting is hard enough as it is and sometimes you get some unwelcome comments like "she should be wearing a hat" or "you need to sit down on the bus so your baby won't get hurt". I've been on a bus ride where a toddler was throwing a tantrum and people were practically verbally abusing the mother about it. One time this lady was going on and on about how we can't bring a car seat on the bus. David and I just ignored her but the old man next to me pretty much told her to shut her trap. They were arguing for a while and he just kept muttering "just shut up, just shut up." Quite awkward but quite funny. That's the thing about public transportation - everyone is in everyone else's space and business. A lady said out of nowhere to Michelle, my pregnant sister, that she needs to breastfeed her child because that's what "they" are for. Thanks for the heads up, lady.
I think NYC is incredibly convenient...IF you stay within your neighborhood. You strap your kids in the double stroller and off you go to wherever. However, if you want to get on the bus or subway, you have to plan well for that. Carrying a double stroller down subway steps or folding it up on a crowded bus is out of the question for me. If you are lucky, you can find a subway stop with an elevator. Basically, you need to have a really reliable baby carrier (I just purchased an Ergo, and I think it will work a lot better than the BabyBjorn) and an umbrella stroller to fold up when hopping on the subway/bus. I'm just starting to figure these things out. Everytime we have a family outing, we have to discuss how we will get there. Here are the choices:
By walking (it might rain or it is too freakin' hot!)
Bus (watch out for rude crazy people)
Subway (sometimes you have to wait forever for a train. Sometimes you have rats for company)
Or taxi (sure, if you want to burn a hole in your wallet and deal with grouchy taxi driver!)
In general, public transportation really isn't that bad. Yes, there are very annoying moments like the ones I mentioned above on the bus, but people are generally friendly and buses/subways generally run frequently. Most of the time, people will offer their seat to me while I am carrying Arden. People offer to help me with the stroller when confronted with steps on the subway. I try to forget about the bad times and remember the nice people out here. The other day I was carrying Arden in the Ergo and I was walking home with Ava from the bus stop. Her feet were very sore from her church shoes, which were way too small so she "couldn't" walk. I tried to carry Ava with my arms at the same time, but that didn't work for more than a few steps (got to work on my weak, flabby arms). Then I tried to give her a piggyback ride. That was a mistake since she was barely hanging on for dear life. A nice lady walking by carried Ava all the way to our lobby.
Gone are the days where I can just hop in my car and drive to the Target that is 4 minutes away. I am constantly buying diapers, toiletries, toys and other paraphernalia online. It is pretty sweet to go to the lobby and pick up my package from the doorman. But I do miss my Charlotte Target. There are Targets I can just hop on a subway and get to, but I'm not sure it will be worth the trouble to me. As for grocery shopping...I don't know what I would do without Whole Foods. I practically live there. We are always buying the rotisserie chicken and pizza there and I shop there multiple times a week, sometimes multiple times a day. I also order my groceries through FreshDirect. The concept of ordering groceries online and having it delivered is amazing. Despite living next to Whole Foods and having the FreshDirect option at my fingertips, I am still doing a poor job of keeping our apartment stocked with food. The reality is, there is no space. Some moms rent cars/take taxis and go to Costco to pick up some stuff. I would love to stock up at Costco but if you saw my kitchen, you would know what I mean about no space for anything! Someday I will post pictures of the apartment...when the clutter is less crazy. I am getting owned by clutter.
Music/dance/art classes here are double or triple the cost of those in Charlotte. So I've been trying to find lots of FREE activities for Ava. There are lots of free things to do and we've really enjoyed all the children's programs this summer. We have also been to some amazing free Shakespeare plays and concerts.
I am realizing how lame this blog is. We've been exploring the city but I haven't posted anything about these amazing places! I live in one of the coolest cities in the world and I need to do a better job documenting it! I will post some pics of some of our summer sightseeing later.
