Well, I don't really have an answer to that question... aside from, "umm, we live in a tiny one-bedroom on the Upper East Side... and we share a room with her... and we live on the third floor of a walk up... oh yeah, we have two dogs too".
Not to mention, we walk around in a half zombie-like state half the time anyways. But the charming goes hand-in-hand with the difficult in this city. Here's are the highs and lows...
Sharing a bedroom has taught Elle to sleep right through sound (even with our door closed you can still hear)... and Elle slept through our entire Oscar Party which filled our tiny apartment. The dogs have also helped to "sleep train her through sound". ;) Crazy honking cab drivers and construction on the side of the busy streets? No problem!
There are several things we love about raising a baby in the city. Diversity for starters. We are surrounded by a blend of culture, language and food ... which baby Elle also gets to experience at her "drool skool".
Speaking of "drool skool", it's across the street. I can walk there in a matter of minutes and don't even need the stroller. A-mazing.
Our apartment is nestled between a very charming local park, Carl Schurz, and the best park of all, Central Park! We love long walks and on nice days, picnics and people watching.
As crazy as this sounds, we enjoy not having a car and the freedom of not worrying about getting Elle in and out of a car seat. Everything we need is in walking distance and we have a good majority of those things delivered to our doorstep.
We live in the Upper East Side, surrounded by lots of other families! We love feeling part of a community that is always out and about enjoying the neighborhood.
Now, of course NYC comes with its challenges. For starters, I am taller than our fridge. And two people can barely stand in our kitchen. There is no stocking up on food or buying in bulk. But hey, that does help to keep fresher things on our grocery list!
Oh yeah, and we don't have a dishwasher either. Hello, bottle cleaning + dishes + bottle cleaning + dishes... And given that our kitchen is the size of a shoe box, one dirty dish makes you feel like you are living in dirty chaos. Life goal = counter space and dishwasher one day!
Most people do not have a washer and dryer in their apartment. In fact, you are lucky to have one in your building. We have one washer and dryer in our dungeon of a basement for the entire building. And hallelujah, it just started talking credit cards vs. quarters (well sometimes, anyways). It also has the worst drying mechanism around, so you can often find our clothes hanging throughout the apartment. But thankfully, Richard does the laundry. :)
Stairssssss. Life would be grand if we had an elevator. Have you ever tried getting a baby, baby bag and stroller down three very narrow flights of stairs ... or better yet, back up? It's a work out! I really, really hate our stairs most days. No, let's be honest... every single day.
But we love this city, it's constant buzz, never ending list of things to explore and experience. It sure keeps life interesting.
And we love the creativity from other parents on how they figure out life together, NYC quirkiness and all. As for (forced) creativy, we've used every single corner of our home! Elle's closet is organized by a shoe rack filled with baby essentials... along with my dresses. :)
Fun fact about our apartment. Elle's diaper changing station is situated next to our bar. Where else can you change a baby and grab a cocktail without having to move? Efficiency at its finest.
You learn to simplify, clean out your closets A LOT, experience the joy of community by sharing clothes/toys/essentials/babysitting. You don't buy things you don't need, you don't hold on to things because you just don't have the space.
And the thing that we love the most is that this city kicks you out of your tiny apartment and forces you to get outdoors and explore and enjoy NYC right alongside everyone else. It's a sense of community that continues to surprise us in a sea of people.
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