It's Great to Raise Kids in an Urban Setting

I was recently asked by a friend of a friend of mine, who is moving to my neighborhood from a suburban Sun Belt state, how manageable it is to raise kids in an urban setting
It made for good conversation, and led me afterwards to want to pick up on this post I had written last year on how much more mobility my adolescent kids have than I did growing up in suburban California.  (Which, they will soon realize how wonderful it is to be able to go where they want to without us, and we are already reveling in having to worry about far less schlepping than if they were dependent on us to get everywhere.)

Y! M! C! A!

I love few things in life more than the Y.  I only regret we found the Y so late in life.

It was 2011, and many of our neighborhood friends who had the means were ditching the local park for a private swim club.  Concurrently, Amy had injured her ankle and was looking for a gym to rehab.  

Being the utter penny-pincher, I blanched at the swim club dues and the gym membership fees.  I forget if it was me or Amy who offered, "what about the Y," but since then we haven't looked back.

Huang Family Newsletter, January 2019

Asher continues to get services at preschool, and is doing well although still behind on some development issues and still prone to outbursts.

Aaron turned 12.  He had two swim meets and had two friends over for a sleepover birthday party.

Jada got a part in her school play, and she got into Central High where she will be a freshman in the fall.

Amy and Lee are busy as ever juggling work and home, but were able to do a kid-free weekend in Brooklyn.

Anatomy of a Weekend

From 5:00pm on a Friday to 9:00am the next Monday is 64 hours.  This is the length of a typical working person's weekend.  Here is how I spent one of those weekends earlier this month.

Kids-Free in New York City

Amy and I capitalized on MLK weekend by doing an adults-only getaway to Brooklyn.  The good news was that because it was close, it didn't take long to get there, and when a very bad storm threatened the area (and wiped out our return bus trip), we were able to quickly pivot to a train ride home.  The bad news was that most of our weekend was cold and rainy, unlike say Miami.

No worries.  We still had fun.  Friday we dropped off our luggage at the hotel and then made a beeline to Flushing for Taiwanese food, before ambling to Queens Botanical Garden and then Flushing Meadow Corona Park (site of the 1939 and 1964 World's Fairs).  Saturday we did the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island in the morning, and Brighton Beach and Coney Island in the afternoon.  Sunday we had to curtail our itinerary on account of rain plus an earlier ride home than we anticipated, but we still got a nice long walk to and through Prospect Park plus a quick but satisfying tour through Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

Between being free of kid-related responsibilities and being in nature, it was incredibly relaxing.  Not to mention lots of quality time as a couple to talk, laugh, and just be.  Glad for the chance to do this.

 

Bound for Central

I am proud to announce that Jada got into Central High, her first choice, and she has accepted, so that is where she will be going in the fall.  We are ecstatic, and very proud of her!

 For those of you not familiar with Philadelphia public schools, in addition to neighborhood schools there are special admissions schools you can test into or audition into.  Central is one of them, and it is almost entirely based on grades and test scores, and we knew Jada had the grades and test scores to get in, but it is still nice for it to be official.

Central is a truly remarkable school.  It is exceptionally diverse.  It is large but it feels like everyone is friendly with everyone.  It has a tremendous number of academic and extra-curricular offerings that Jada looks forward to exploring and benefiting from.  And, here in Philadelphia, it has a spirited alumni base, which is ever proud to wear Lancer colors and tell you what class number they are.  (Jada will be 282.)


Jada and I have talked about high school for a little bit now, and I feel she is ready and excited, and Amy and I are excited with and for her.  Congrats to our Jerds!

Happy Birthday, Aaron!!

12 is a great age, and Aaron is a great kid!  Today we celebrate this young man and this particular milestone.  Thankful to God for our Aaron.