This morning, Pablo, Rafael and I were sitting at one of our three local cafes and it occurred to me that there is very little that I miss about living in Marrickville.
What inspired this thought?
My coffee wasn't amazing. In fact, none of the coffees from any of the cafes have been great. Passable. Not terrible. Just... ok. Occasionally, if we're lucky, we might be able to say that a coffee was... good. Not very exciting stuff.
I miss great coffee, and we had great coffee in Marrickville.
But... our new cafe that we seem to attend the most is amazing for kids. Our local in Marrickville was always crowded and noisy and just a bit too funky to enjoy taking Rafael to it. He doesn't want to sit for too long; he is only two years old after all. Our new local cafe is really big, with lots of tables and usually very few people in there. We let Rafael down and he wanders around the table (or crawls underneath it) without disturbing anyone (including us).
Is there anything else we miss?
I do miss the nice parks - and having the company of other parents at the park. Our new local park is a bit dismal and so far we have always been the only people there.
But... and again, there is a but! Now that I have backyard for my little Ninja Turtle to play in, we don't need to go to the park half as often anymore. That was the entire point of moving to the suburbs, having our own private playground so that we didn't need to pack up and leave the house every time Rafael needed some activity. Now, Rafael spends at least twice as much time outside than he was while we lived in Marrickville and he loves it.
I asked Pablo what he missed about Marrickville. His response was the same as mine - not as much as he expected. He agreed with me that he misses good coffee the most. Maybe that just says something about our commitment to caffeine.
He did also say that he misses living opposite Woolworths. It was convenient just being able to cross the road the do the groceries. I think I miss this a little less because I don't mind going out to Woolworths and doing a big shop. Pablo on the other hand thinks that when we do that we tend to waste more food that we don't get to eat quickly enough. He definitely has a valid point, but I do think that over time we will just get used to knowing how much we need and how long it will all last in the fridge. Practice makes perfect after all.
Otherwise we everything we need and want. We still live in a multicultural area of Sydney. We still have everything we need within a walk from the house; park, shops, bank, trains and buses. But now we have the added benefits of a backyard, more space, wonderful neighbours and being closer to work (for me anyway). Two of the three things that we each miss about living in Marrickville have a big 'but' attached, where we feel like we miss something, but we have gained something else to balance it.
All in all, this move has been an important step for our family. Please don't get me wrong. Marrickville was wonderful while it lasted. It gave us everything we desired, especially before we had Rafael, but also afterwards. I don't regret a moment of it and I don't wish that I had moved a day earlier.
I just feel lucky that we have gained more than we have lost.
We've been here for two months now and my expectations and the reality of living in the suburbs are completely different!
I wrote the post below before we moved into Aidanvale. It's funny looking back on all the things that I thought I would miss once I had moved to my new house in the suburbs. It has inspired me to write the following two part series (how fancy does that sound!).
The first, of course, is this post: "What I thought I would miss".
The second will be: "What I actually miss".
* * *
This morning I walked around to my local cafe. They know me by name and know my order. On the way home I passed someone on the street and we said hello to each other.
Nothing special perhaps, but it got me thinking about all the things I am going to miss about living in Marrickville.
I'm going to miss the sense of community. Everyone says hello to each other and people like to make small talk with each other.
I'm going to miss all the parks. There are so many parks around me with such a variety of play equipment for Rafael and there are always lots of people at the parks regardless of what day of the week it is or what time I'm there. I have been to my new local park and it was...sad. There was no one there and the equipment was old and not very suitable for toddlers. There wasn't even a toddler swing. I hope I can find a better park within walking distance somewhere.
I am going to miss talking to other people at the park. When I take Rafael to the park now I almost always end up in conversation with several other mothers. When you're at home all day with a not-yet 2 year old, it's nice to make conversation with an adult and I think that it's made even more special that we can all talk easily to each other even having never met.
I am going to miss how multicultural it is. The other day I was walking up Illawarra Road toward Marrickville road. Coming towards me was an elderly Vietnmese lady wearing traditional silk pyjamas and a non la or the Vietnamese conical leaf hat. Behind her came a woman, probably about the same age as me, wearing a hijab. On the other side of the road was a middle aged African lady wearing a traditional African outfit (sorry I don't know the name of it). The shops are all a mix of Greek and Vietnamese shops with the standard Video Ezy and Chemist Warehouse. I think that makes it a good place to raise children and to teach them to be accepting of everyone's background and heritage.
I am going to miss all the cafes. I know we don't tend to cafes much anymore now that Rafael is older, but still. It's nice to know that they are there when you need them. They offer a good variety of good quality food and they're all family friendly.
I am going to miss having everything I could possibly need in walking distance. I don't need to drive anywhere to get anything. Not even the groceries - I have woolworths almost directly across the street. Now I am going to have to drive to woolworths. Cue the violins.
I am going to miss the chips from the Yeeros shop. I know, that probably might seem like stretching it a bit to a lot people, but seriously, they are easily the best hot chips I have ever had and I doubt very much that I will find hot chips as good as these again.
Now I want Yeeros chips for dinner. Sigh.
Don't worry, there are things I am not going to miss as well and I will dedicate a post to that on another day. Right now I just want to ponder the good things about Marrickville.
Firstly, who are we?
There's me: the author of this blog, Sydney FC fan, solicitor by profession but more focused on family and friends than my career.
There's Pablo: wonderful husband, a Liverpool FC and West Tigers fan who looks after us better than anyone could ever ask for.
Then there's Rafael: our almost 2 year old son, car obsessed and the most gorgeous of choochy pies there ever has been with a smile that will melt your heart and curls to die for.
Oh… and our 2 rabbits, Bodo and Thomas. Bodo is the bully, but he's getting better.
I say that Aidanvale is our new family home because we've already had a family home; a large unit in the inner west of Sydney. This unit was the first place that we purchased together. It's where we brought our son home from hospital to. It's where we lived when we finally said our 'I-dos". It has been the perfect place for us. Close to the city, work, friends and family. In it, we've been able to experience the inner city lifestyle we enjoy but in a neighbourly and family friendly environment.
Then along came baby. With Rafael came joy, laughter and a sense of wholeness. Following that, came sleep deprivation, mounds of laundry and toy box after toy box of toys. He started to grow. First he started crawling everywhere. Then he started walking. Now he loves to run around and explore as often and for as long as possible.
Our middle floor unit became more crowded than ever and getting up and down the stairs with the child and all of his belongings became harder and harder. We began to wonder what we would do when we had another one.
It was time to upsize.
After many long months of looking, several stops and starts, a failed auction attempt on another property – we finally found our new home… Aidanvale.
When I first walked into it, I had a feeling about it. Nothing tangible, just a feeling. It looked and felt cozy. Half late 19th century cottage with original features and half more modern extensions (more modern than 1890 anyway!), it was exactly the sort of house we were looking for. Inbuilt book cases, original fire places, two living rooms and enough bedrooms for the kids. There was no modern open-plan layout which suited us perfectly. In my husband's words "we're more nooks and crannies kind of people". After a few inspections we decided to go to auction and you already know that we were the lucky ones who purchased it!
Where to from here?!
We're in now – well, only in the sense that it's ours. We won't move in until early March, once our unit has sold. It will be sad to leave the home we started out our family life in. But I am more than excited to see what the future brings in our new home. This is the home where we will bring our second child home to (and maybe a third, that's still up for debate!). It is where we will have our first wedding anniversary (plus some more), where we will be when our kids start school and, with any luck, where we will be when they finish school. We will have Christmas's, birthdays, parties, fun, tantrums and everything else that comes with family.
This is our family journey in Aidanvale.
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