That Which I Have Become

When I started graduate school at Temple I fell in love with city living. I had been working in Fairmount and when T took a job in Delaware we took the opportunity to move to the neighborhood that stole my heart. I loved the people, the restaurants, and the quirky, old row homes. I loved that we walked everywhere, that the car we had was super compact, that our grocery store was a mom and pop operation, and our favorite bartender knew us by name. We drank exotic beer, ate at cool restaurants, took cabs everywhere, and renovated our beloved 1,200 square foot home. We loved it there and thought we would never leave. Then we got pregnant.

All of the sudden, going out wasn't much fun anymore--well, at least for me. I couldn't/wouldn't drink, the smoking irritated the heck out of me, and man are those bar stools uncomfortable when you're sporting a big belly. Much to my spouse's chagrin, we did not go out as much (unless it involved ice cream) and the city started to become less exotic to me. Then we had the baby showers and our house, which had been comfortable for us, quickly began to feel a little crammed. Nonetheless, we remained committed to giving the family thing a try on Bucknell Street.

You know how this story ends. Here we are in the shangrila of the suburbs and boy have things changed. I never thought I'd want to live in the burbs but the allure of a driveway, a swingset, and peace and quiet was simply too much. We've been really surprised at how much we've been liking it here. Especially Grace. We realized when the child was afraid of grass that we should probably head for greener pastures and we spend our afternoons looking at the trees, the flowers, and pulling acorns out of her mouth. We still have restaurants within walking distance and local businesses to patronize. But we did ditch the compact car for the mid-sized SUV. This has become a key factor in our latest suburban adventure--the warehouse club. One simply cannot fit all of our life's supplies in the Jetta.

Years ago we belonged to BJs in New Jersey--mostly because they sold beer and wine at a severe discount. Call us cheap wineos but we prefer thrifty connoisseurs. But then we got sucked into buying all sorts of things we didn't have space for and decided between the space issue and the potential for the LCB chasing us over the Ben Franklin Bridge (this was my fear not T's), we decided not to continue. But now that we have the space, we figured why not join? Costco is every suburban family's dream. My the things you can buy in bulk--mac and cheese (a staple for Grace these days), paper towels (you have no idea how much we go through), diapers, wipes, goldfish. I swore we just get a few things. We walked out with an overflowing cart and later that week I had to go back for some stuff we "needed." Like flannel pajama pants--2 for $10!!!! This is a bargain. Grace likes going to Costco. There's time for a nap in the car, lots to see in the store, plenty of people she can wave to, and she's very helpful. The last time we were there I gave her a bag of goldfish to keep her occupied. I realized mid-way through our shopping adventure that she was leaving a trail of goldfish for us to backtrack and find our way out. How thoughtful of her! Mind you many were crushed by unsuspecting shoppers but the crushed yellow crackers were still distinguishable.

Now if you had asked me 5 years ago would I ever live in the suburbs, would I drive an SUV, would I belong to a superclub, I would have scoffed--"no way!" But here we are. . . .I like to think it's a sign of intellectual maturity to change one's mind. I'm generally suspicious of people who hold the same opinions for years. Now it's not like I've become a volunteer for the GOP or anything but I'd like to think that becoming parents has changes us a bit and we have different priorities. It's not all about us anymore and what we want. Most of it is about Grace and what she wants and needs. And she wants and needs giant boxes of discounted mac and cheese! This is now our life. While I sometimes miss city living, I do love the driveway, love the walks with Grace, love the crickets at night, love that my neighbors aren't on top of me, and love sitting on my porch drinking a glass of wine with my husband at the end of the day. If only Costco could sell wine I'd be even more fulfilled!