Wednesday, July 28, 2010

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

It is amazing, really, how everything can change so quickly. So much has happened in the last few weeks. I want to get it all down, record it, but it still seems like such a jumble. And it's going to sound easy and happy, something I am still getting used to.

Let's start with the neighborhood.

It's perfect.

The first day we were here, really within the first half hour, two little girls showed up at our door with handmade cards welcoming Girlie. A few weeks prior, I had run into a woman at a nearby park who knew some of the families in Girlie's school. She emailed the PTA president who filtered our info down to the families on our new street. The girls who live here were so excited to have someone their age moving in. Some more emailing and they knew the day we'd arrive. Apparently there was some giddy spying going on, peeping through curtains and such, and as soon as we pulled up, the girls sprung into action.

And their mothers? One of them pumped water out of my garage when it flooded on moving day and then invited me over for cocktails a few days later. We've had a group cookout every Sunday night since moving in. We drove to the beach for the day with seven kids between us. These are good people.

It is the kind of place, the kind of street, where all the kids run between yards. Fences were taken down to make it easier. Mothers pass the kids back and forth, no one can cross the street, but between the houses, the children can be anywhere. It is the kind of childhood I have always wanted for Girlie and Little Guy (though he is still a little too young to run free) and until now, we've never landed in a place that had it. You don't call to arrange playdates, you send your kid over to knock. The girls started a nature club and Girlie comes home dirty every night. How have we not had this until now?

So I want to pinch myself. Or maybe keep quiet about it. Or maybe shout it from the rooftops. And that is just about the neighborhood. There is the downtown writing class. The amazing preschool I found for Little Guy. The friends we've made already. This cute cute house. The subway.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Allison writes, "I'm so happy for you I could cry. Seriously, I'm welling up right now! A nature club?!!! And I can't wait to hear more about the downtown writing class."

Lisa said...

Sounds so Mister Roger-y. Congratulations and have fun!!!

latisha said...

oh cheri. this made me cry. i am so happy for you. and i admit a bit jealous. but you all deserve it so much. enjoy every minute of it.