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.
Well, we're officially in.
Unit sold.
House moved.
It's hard to get a handle on how I feel at the moment. People keep asking me if I feel settled in yet. I answer yes, because I think that it's the right answer - but really the answer is no.
There's still so much to do; inside and outside the house.
I'd say that in the space of three weeks we've unpacked less than half of the house. I know that it will take time. Today someone said to me "necessity is the mother of unpacking". I love that and intend to tell myself that every time I see an unpacked box sitting in my way.
In the meantime, it makes it hard to feel settled in because, well, we're not.
We will feel settled in eventually though. Slowly but surely we're getting there. Every now and then I get a glimpse of what it's going to be like once it's all put together.
Yesterday, we massively cleared out the backyard and mowed the lawn. There's still a long way to go but I had a glimpse of the future - the kids playing in the yard and me watching them out the backdoor.
Today, I perched on the edge of our herb garden and watched Pablo and Rafael play together; running up and down the driveway. It was magic.
I am the kind of person who likes everything done as soon as possible. For now though, I am content with the knowledge that we are getting there. I will do my best to stay present and enjoy the journey.
Well, I suppose we need to start thinking about what we want from Aidanvale.
What do we need from a family home? What do we want from a family home?
We had our first post-settlement visit on the weekend. It felt different to wander around the house knowing that it was our and we would soon be moving in. I kept having flashes of the future. We will do so much; see so much; achieve so much in this house.
Rafael came with us for the visit. He was asleep when he arrived so he was pretty dozy. Nonetheless, I loved seeing the expression on his face as he looked around. He is such a curious, cautious little boy. He just slowly took it all on, looking around him as we carried him through the house and later having a little wander around, but not wanting to get too far away from us. He wanted to open and close each and every kitchen cupboard and he seemed a little confused by all the outdoor space.
It's going to take some getting used to having all this space. Not the inside so much. I know us… and I know that we can fill the place without a problem.
Having lived for the last 9years in units we will need to rethink how we spend our time at home.
Now, if we are at home, we are inside doing inside activities. If we want to do any outdoor activities that involved leaving home and going somewhere else like the park. Not that we wouldn't go on outings anyway, but there's a whole part of our every day family life that can't take place at home because our home doesn't have the space for it.
I can sense that we might have inadvertently become 'indoorsy types'. Don't get me wrong, Pablo and I aren't the types to go out bushwalking or camping.
As I give this some thought though, I don't want to be the family that spends all their time indoors. I want us to get fresh air and sunshine and I want us to do that in our own home.
I don't know how to turn all of this into a "vision". Maybe it's too early to be talking about a vision. Maybe (in fact almost certainly) our vision for Aidanvale will change over time.
NOTE: At the time of posting this, we have been living in Aidanvale for 2 months. I will catch up with my posts... I promise this to myself, ha!
For now at least, what I am looking forward to is having a complete family space. A place where we can be indoors or outdoors… together… as a family in our own little space of Sydney.
What do we need from a family home? What do we want from a family home?
We had our first post-settlement visit on the weekend. It felt different to wander around the house knowing that it was our and we would soon be moving in. I kept having flashes of the future. We will do so much; see so much; achieve so much in this house.
Rafael came with us for the visit. He was asleep when he arrived so he was pretty dozy. Nonetheless, I loved seeing the expression on his face as he looked around. He is such a curious, cautious little boy. He just slowly took it all on, looking around him as we carried him through the house and later having a little wander around, but not wanting to get too far away from us. He wanted to open and close each and every kitchen cupboard and he seemed a little confused by all the outdoor space.
It's going to take some getting used to having all this space. Not the inside so much. I know us… and I know that we can fill the place without a problem.
Having lived for the last 9years in units we will need to rethink how we spend our time at home.
Now, if we are at home, we are inside doing inside activities. If we want to do any outdoor activities that involved leaving home and going somewhere else like the park. Not that we wouldn't go on outings anyway, but there's a whole part of our every day family life that can't take place at home because our home doesn't have the space for it.
I can sense that we might have inadvertently become 'indoorsy types'. Don't get me wrong, Pablo and I aren't the types to go out bushwalking or camping.
As I give this some thought though, I don't want to be the family that spends all their time indoors. I want us to get fresh air and sunshine and I want us to do that in our own home.
I don't know how to turn all of this into a "vision". Maybe it's too early to be talking about a vision. Maybe (in fact almost certainly) our vision for Aidanvale will change over time.
NOTE: At the time of posting this, we have been living in Aidanvale for 2 months. I will catch up with my posts... I promise this to myself, ha!
For now at least, what I am looking forward to is having a complete family space. A place where we can be indoors or outdoors… together… as a family in our own little space of Sydney.
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