Brooklyn baby

Yesterday we popped out for a quick trip to Carroll Gardens in Brooklyn to do some shopping and maybe get a growler or two of beer (Nacho's latest fascination). It didn't take long to remind me why I love living in Queens. Brooklyn is, well, how do you describe it? Trendy? Popular? Too hip for its own good? For sure, the baby boom is overwhelming in some places. I thought our parks were crowded and then we ventured into one that left me almost hyperventilating it was so full. There were moms in skinny jeans with no trace of baby bulge competing for parking space with their SUV strollers. It was the baby-as-fashion-accessory kind of parenting that I've come to really loathe about this city. The strollers are designed more to accommodate mom's latte and shopping bags than the baby. And as much as I try to refrain from judging--I mean it is oddly fascinating to watch--I just don't feel a kindred spirit with these kinds of perfectly pedicured moms.

So why all this bitching? I guess it's easy to see how other people live when you are all sharing the same parks and sidewalks and markets. As much as I love city life, it is dense and there is no mistaking the fact that being a parent here is a new ball game. It's easy to make comparisons and to wonder if you are doing things right or if your kid is missing out. Nobody wants to feel their kid is getting the shaft. But when I come home to our neighborhood and I talk to my gaggle of Sunnymoms, I feel like we are so much closer to having the same values. It feels like these women are dealing with the same experiences and coming to the same solutions as I am. And there is no artifice. Finding that in New York City has been a salvation of sorts. It's what makes me thankful to enjoy my little day trips exploring other neighborhoods and glad to come home to Sunnyside where I know I have the space to be myself.