City Kids

Any germaphobe parent would be miserable living in this city. Kids touch everything, and everything here has been touched by the other 8 million people who live here (along with their 5 million dogs). We're hoping to boost their immune systems. This is a picture of our kids waiting at the bus stop by our house. I think Jamison captured a beautiful picture with the lighting. Any time you can make a dirty sidewalk and bodega store window look interesting is pretty impressive.

We've been spending a lot of time in the park lately since we've had off and on days of nicer weather. The kids are in adventure exploration mode. Last week I was hiking down "mountains" with a stroller on my back trying to keep up with those kids. They have found forts built by other kids, huge fallen trees to climb on, etc. Along with these gems, they find popular secluded spots for unmentionable activities (gross! no known immune-system-building-contributions). Once they found a "cave" created by some overgrown bushes and fallen trees. I chose not to play in the cave and zoned out on the latest New York magazine...until I overheard talk about a shoe and bottles and clothing. My kids have a good imagination outdoors, but it usually involves making stone soup or something. I entered the cave only to discover that it was the former (or current) dwelling of a homeless person, full of the remains of weeks of living. Lesson learned: Escaping into nature doesn't mean you escape the city.

Yet I absolutely LOVE living in this city! Does that make me crazy? Every time I walk out of my door, I get energized by this place. I love being smashed together with all of these people and not being able to walk a block without seeing a familiar face. It is really mysterious to me because so many people are drained by cities (granted, we live in a very pastoral area of NYC). I am so thankful that we live here and that we have the gift of raising city kids...trash and all.

P.S. I refrained from posting our newly graffitied garage by our apartment...that can make the next city kids' post...