Pirates, dinosaurs and sparkles

Sometimes I’m just all talked out, and it’s best to let my iPhone do the explainin’. Today we:

admired LJ’s new sparkly “big girl kicks”,

lovingly painted (and cracked) some eggs,

cheered on a dinosaur parade,

admired our super-cool hood,

… and had an unexpected visit from a pirate.

I’m wiped out, and it’s only 3pm.

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“Mama, I really wish we had a backyard.”

When my almost 3-year-old uttered that yesterday, my heart plummeted.  I tried to convince her that Prospect Park was kind of our backyard: after all, it’s only a block away!  It’s HUGE!  There are a million playgrounds (or maybe 4)!  So many trees!  A lake!  There’s a zoo and a carousel!  A ZOO with sea lions!  Yay!  What suburban kid has sea lions in their backyards!?!  Name ONE kid.  You can’t.  We win.

She didn’t buy it. I didn’t either.  I want a backyard, too… although I also want a chicken coop, gigantic garden and maybe a cow or two.  And a treehouse with a tire swing dangling from it.  Maybe a pond for the dog to swim in.  I envision myself pulling weeds from my organic garden clad in my gray wellies and gardening gloves, while the dog chases butterflies around the pond and the kid lolls around on the tire swing. In reality, we live in a 700 square foot apartment in Brooklyn.  I love it, though, I swear I do, and I’ve become determined to convince my kid that city living is AWESOME, and that we don’t need a stupid yard.  Yards are for suckers.  Yards and luxurious things like space, driveways and superstores are for the weak. Climbing stairs with a toddler, stroller and twenty Trader Joe’s bags after parking two blocks away builds character.  Learning to avoid eye contact with the crazy lady taking a dump between two parked subarus in front of your apartment is a skill.  It’s all just part of the charm of city living (Shhh! It is! Isn’t it?).

Living in NYC is way better, and here’s why: while suburban kids were mulling around bored in their backyards this morning, we were chilling with THESE guys-

…and we were able to make it home before nap time.*

*Almost

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