Living in America 2012--Because It Is No Longer 2011

[MmeBucket]

This is what happens when I start threads--they get stupid titles. Someone else needs to start the next one. Hopefully we can get this one filled by 2013.

Link to old thread for reference

Not much happening here. The kids have been off school for 25 days. I am soooo looking forward to them starting school tomorrow. Except it is my day to help, so instead of getting a break from my two, I'll have 22 of them to deal with.

oh congratulations on the move to NJ, Flip - if you're in North/Central NJ then feel free to look us up. If I can help with any useful info about schools, daycare, soft play or whatever :)

And thanks for the congrats - DS is 2 and DS2 is due at Christmas ...If I can help with any useful info about schools, daycare, soft play or whatever, let me know! In a way, I think this is the last Christmas I can get away with just decorating a tree and having a present on the day, next year he'll be 3 1/2 and actually expecting an event, I think!

Also wanted to thank CaliforniaLeaving for the naartjie link - I tend to clothe DS relatively cheaply (Carters are having a big sale atm, etc) in tees and trackies, because of the speed he's growing and the extend to which he trashes clothes. That all said, there are a few things that are worth spending the cash on - specially when I'm purchasing for 2 sons, and coats/hats/ snowpants are key!

Hurrah for Halloween! I really love it here, our neighbours go to town on the decorations on this street, and dress their children adorably. This will probably be the first year I'll actually take DS out for a few houses, though he won't know what's going on he does have a dress-up dinosaur outfit that he loves, so it's an excuse to wear that, sing the Laurie Berkner song "We Are The Dinosaurs" , and generally let me eat his sweeties show off his cuteness!

Hi all, just running in as we're in uk at the moment introducing DD to everyone. I miss California! Particularly my friends & the weather . Jet lag hasn't been too bad but DD hates the travel cot so we're co-sleeping and she's sleeping beautifully ha ha!

Well today we watched our stuff being driven off into the sunset (well, the container was sunset orange at least!). Quite strange to think we'll be reunited with it in weeks when we've found a new home...the flat was so strange and echo-y without our stuff (and utterly filthy! Good thing it's being professionally cleaned tomorrow). We're off to the zoo tomorrow for our last day in London.

Blackcurrants thanks for your offer of insider tips . I'll be picking your brain once we're sorted. Between you and want2be I'm feeling lucky to have such wise Mumsnetters already blazing the NJ trail!

Vintagenancy hope you're enjoying the UK!

Off to bed - DD has a cold so last night had a lot of waking (yawn) so best get to bed.

Flip - Welcome to the US! I hope you had a good trip over.

Blackcurrents Congrats on your 2nd. I am due mid Feb and am hoping for a mild winter.

I bought DD's halloween outfit at the Carters store on halloween last year. She will be a ladybird this year. Last year she was a pumpkin. I made the costume myself using an outfit that my MIL saved from DH's baby days. Luckily the MIL was amused at the creation when DH showed her the pictures!

Aww thanks want2 - me too. Last year's mildness was lovely as DS could be out and rushing around a lot more than we were expecting, and for a lot longer. He's a bundle of energy and without a few hours at the park each day I dread to think how I'll manage this winter! How's it going?

Welcome, Flip - hope you're not too knackered after the move, and every thing gets where it is supposed to be!

Flip - I post here only rarely, but give me a shout if you want to have a coffee while you are on Manhattan for your first month.

blackcurrants I found a nice indoor play area in Hoboken in that Monroe Center. It's called 'My gym' and they have some good classes. DH was speaking to one of the mothers at DD's daycare and there is a little gym in Cranford. Her little boy is a bundle of energy so they take him there at the weekend to wear him out.

Yes, there's a My Gym up the road from me - it's tempting but they require a monthly membership (like an adult gym) and as DS is in daycare during the week and only hits the right age range for 2 classes at the weekend, it seemed like a very pricey way to go to four or six classes a month. . . to be honest we don't do a lot of organized play with him, since he gets that at daycare. What he loves best is playing in the park, collecting sticks for me (erm, thank you darling), climbing things, and throwing stones into the stream: "Biiig spassh!" I've just bought him a snowsuit so hopefully we can do a bit of that, even in terrible cold.

A monthly membership does suck. The place in Hoboken were happy for us to pay as you go for the classes. They also do a late night session once or twice a month and we are thinking about using that for DD instead of a babysitter.

We live by a hill that everyone sledges on when it snows. I can't wait to take DD this year. I might be as big as a house at that point but I will be going down the hill! Our neighbours gave us their old LL Bean sledge for young children after I was sledging two years ago on the lid to the dust bin!

oh blimey I've been AWOL from the thread forEVER!!

VintageNancy hope you're having a lovely time in UK - don't miss CA too much, it's 37degrees in Santa Monica tomorrow so imagine how awful the desert will be!

flip welcome to the US! Hope the trip over is ok - have fun househunting!

want2b my DS (nearly 4) goes to MyGym, FWIW I think it's been brilliant - but then he goes EVERY week and we often cash in on the freeplay sessions too. It is a bit pricey but the only thing we've paid for (outside preschool which he does 3xweek) - the late night sessions are good, you pay extra for them though and DC need to be potty trained. DS has come on so much with his confidence in his own physical capabilities though.

I do massively miss the playgroups in the UK though, not found anything similar here yet - might have to start scouring Church Halls.

Not a huge amount of news from LA. It is HOT (still) to the point where I'm getting excited about spending Christmas and January back home, though will obviously be very glad to come back to more temperate climes. Feeling like we're really starting to settle in now. Loads of visitors in the next few months - including my brother who is over for THREE WEEKS following a tour of Afghan, we've booked 2 nights away in Palm Springs, just the two of us - I am probably looking forward to the lie ins and uninterrupted nights more than the mojitos and pool time!

Looks like I might be directing a piece of theatre next year. At the moment it'll be unpaid because I'm on a H4 visa, but looking into paying myself to get an O visa and apparently there's paperwork you can file when you submit your green card application which gives you a permit to work? Anyone heard of this?

Right, going back to catch up on the thread - ooooh really looking forward to Halloween too, not least because it's DS' birthday!

Afternoon ladies

Blackcurrants & Want2be oh I went sledding for the first time at 8 months pregnant back in Feb! It was super fun! Got a lot of looks like I was mad (was massive!) but have such happy memories of that snowy London time. Am looking forward to sledding this year!

Girl that is super great news about your potential theatre piece! Well done you! 'Fraid I have no idea about visas but the official gov website is usually full of good info. And 2 nights in Palm Springs - sounds blissful! Hope the heat abates though.

NeitherShredded thank you for your kind offer! I may well take you up on it . I'll PM you.

Well, this move is going swimmingly so far [knocks on wood]. Our apartment in Manhattan is super swanky - on the 34th floor on 34th St, a block from the Empire St Building, so I'm looking out over Manhattan as I type this. It's a bit like being in a film!

We've had the inlaws over a bit - with some more coming this weekend and we're also off down to Southern NJ this Sunday as DH has Columbus day off. The DC are loving seeing their grandparents etc so much! As are we. DH is enjoying his commute into Jersey City and myself and the kids have a bit of a routine going on (mostly involving Madison Square park and it's great playground!). Also loving the highline - a bit of a walk away from us but really nice for DS to run along. In fact, just had our first FreshDirect order delivered (not as good as Ocado but good enough!). We've been getting bits in Trader Joe's but needed to stock up a little bit.

And the other big news is that we found a house to rent on Sat! It's in Maplewood, five mins from the station and downtown and right by a park so we're v happy. We'll move in around the 20th Oct (hoping our stuff doesn't stay stuck in customs too long!). Want2be we'll be close by!

Right, better get on and put away the groceries before the kids wake up!

Ooh lovely, I'm so glad your move is going well Flip. As well as Fresh Direct you've got Fairway on Broadway and 74th (so take the 1/2 to 72nd) which has everything delicious, (and though it doesn't deliver, it IS open till very very late. mmn and the olives there... and that's where I get british biscuits, PG tips, golden syrup, etc).

So glad you like the High Line - absolutely great park, isn't it? If you feel like exploring the Upper West Side a bit more, Riverside is a great park and has a BRILLIANT playpark at around 92nd st (again, on the 1 or 2/3 train, get off at Broadway and walk 2 blocks towards the west river) - I can't remember what ages your children are but Riverside has a great collection of great playparks, and it's pleasingly not too far from you.

Maplewood is vaaaair naice. You're only a 20 minute drive from us, so get in touch if you need anything! Also, once you're in New Jersey you'll want to know about the Turtleback Zoo which is about a 35 minute drive north from you/me, but absolutely great for kids, and a really nice 'do it in a day' size.

Yay you'll be moved in for halloween! YAY!

Blackcurrants a 20 min drive away - hooray! we shall have to have a mini-MN meetup NJ-style! I can pick your brain about random things about living somewhere non-temperate (eg what does your DS wear in the snow? My DS is 2 and a half and I'm liking the look of the hanna anderson style dungarees with wellies but is that too much? He has a great outer jacket with matching fleece under jacket already...so many random questions ).

That zoo looks lovely - we were members at London zoo so I'm looking for something similar as such an easy/fun day out...and Fairway Market looks amazing! Your post reminded me that I'd heard about it via the New Yorker (they did an article on the honey crisp apple - v interesting it was and I want to eat one...from Fairway if possible!). Gives me a good excuse to head up to the UWS - I'd love if they had the makings of trifle (birds custard etc). I'll explore that park too - the NYC parks are pretty cool so far and i definitely want to see more of the river(s)/water. The statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn bridge is about as close as I've come to the water in all the years I've visited NYC!

Oh and I'm a bit meh about FreshDirect - lovely quality but $$$ and it arrived in 5 cardboard boxes. Properly taped up and stuff. I mean, one box had just the milk and yogurt in it. So we now have a pile of boxes to break down and recycle (or perhaps use for when we move) which is a lot less hassle than just handing plastic bags back to the Ocado driver (or the cardboard box being taken back by the Abel & Cole driver). And so many things were comedy wrapped up (honestly, the bananas alone generated a bag of plastic rubbish - surely banana skins are enough packaging!). Talk about packaging overkill. I'm v partial to an online shop, so will check out peapod. I've already found a dairy that delivers milk (in proper glass bottles and everything) so will be glad of that when we move.

Our air freight stuff just arrived...and man, did we pack no sensible stuff at all! It's all toys/high chairs/scooter/likeabike and yet more clothes. My DH was speaking to a colleague who moved over from London a couple of years ago who sensibly air freighted pots & pans and the like and we were both like, "d'oh, didn't even think of that in our sorting/packing frenzy" . Ah well, DS will be happy when he wakes from his nap to find his trusty scooter and so many toys!

OK, sorry for the ramble! Hope all is well with everyone . Sharklet if you're lurking, I was just wondering how things went with the birth - your little one must be coming up to a couple of months now? A friend just had a baby in the UK and I'm missing the newborn stage already (now that DD is already 6 months ).

PS Blackcurrants yay for Halloween indeed! I am so glad we'll be moved in in time [taps fingers waiting for MN to release the Halloween emoticons]

:) :) :)

For Pans
You're going to be ridic. close to IKEA when you move in (it's less than half an hour away) so if you can hold out with a few crappy pans until then, you will at least be able to properly shop and get what you need then. Also (sly hint) I have a MINIVAN (superhuge car, seats 7) and work from home, if you find yourself needing a lift to ikea (and some tea and cake and just a breather) when you arrive. . . I am v. easy to distract for an afternoon, is all I'm saying . if you need pots and pans desperately before then, frankly I'd think about getting cheapo ones from amazon, if you live in Manhattan you get into the delivery vibe VERY quickly! There's also a Target at 220nd St 1-train stop (this is less fun with a toddler, as you're basically sitting on a train for about 45 mins to go to a big department store. Not as posh as M & S, target nonetheless has absolutely everything you need in the whole world. It's somewhere between Woolworths and Debehams, imo. They're everywhere once you get off Manhattan and I'd go there for a frying pan, all small appliances like toasters, etc. Between Target, amazon and Ikea I furnished my first flat -

Regarding winter gear and stuff: for toddlers, I chose snowsuits: My DS is a tall 2 and a bit (was 2 in july) and I had him in the Hanna Anderson all-in-one-snowsuit (size 90) all of last year, and have just bought the next size up. The size 100 looks Huuuge but I imagine once I put him in it I'll realise he's grown and I've not noticed! I got it for $68 which is STILL bloody expensive, but he spends SO much time outside (and unzips his coats, the little bugger), that I found it my best buy from last year. I found getting him into the snow-trousers and then zipping a coat on over him to be one step too many, he couldn't take it without a big tantrum - so one-step-overall-dressing for us, then!

I also put him in coats from landsend (they were having a rather good 30% sale quite recently - might still be?) - in fact we all wear coats from landsend, and landsend thermals ... not the world's most stylish family, but god my first winter here (2005) was brutal and we have definitely learned to value long johns and vests! Landsend tend to have last year's fleece hats and gloves etc on sale for very cheap, and this is good for me because I buy 3-4 fleecey hats per year, and slowly watch as DS (and DH!) loses them all. Urgh! :)

You can get waffle knit cotton leggings and long-sleeved Tee shirts from fruit of the loom or Hanes brands, which you'll find at target, walmart, etc. They're good under your regular clothes for sledging days.

and the food delivery
I hate to say this, but I haven't found a single food delivery service that I've liked in the eight years I've been here. Peapod was SO expensive to deliver really quite boring foods. Fresh Direct was good but yes to overpackaging and it is also quite pricey - once you get out of Manhattan the price of stuff in supermarkets drops precipitously, and I found I couldn't bring myself to pay for either peapod or FD prices any more. We actually pay the $60 per year for a BJ's membership (similar to costco - bulk buy, save loadsamoney) - when you move into Maplewood you might want to look and see if you fancy doing similar. WE buy our milk, meat, and dry goods there - milk, certainly, is so much cheaper than in supermarkets (and when you buy 3 gallons a week, that matters!), Ditto a box of nappies - $45 most places, $30-35 in BJs) so we've found it pays off well, specially as we've got another DS due in Dec. Between the BJs membership and having a really good greengrocer close by, we don't really use 'normal' supermarkets that much, probably doing a once-or-twice a month trip to Shoprite or Walmart to get very specific things.

It's a pain in the arse to have to go shopping when you're used to getting it delivered, but as in all these things, once you get your list and your system, it doesn't seem to take us that long.

okay that was a mammoth post. Hope some of it was helpful! Gah, must finish this spreadsheet before I become the world's worst slacker! :)

Hah, I've just seen you're going to be a 15 minute drive from Turtleback Zoo .. I am so jealous! Membership is only $100 a year, I think - could definitely repay you well. We've even gone on a bitterly cold January day (hung out with the reptiles and in the 'feed a goat, stare at a cow" section for quite a while - DS doesn't care if the animals are exotic or not) and it was good.

The IKEA is at Elizabeth, right opposite Newark Airport. I hadn't anticipated this being a good thing until I wanted to sit down with a cup of coffee and a princestarta and DS watched rapt from the cafe window: "Train! BIG TRAIN! Trucks! AIRPLANE! AIRPLANE UP IN THE SKY !" ... was better than telly :)

Oh I'm so jealous of you New Yorkers - DH applied for a few jobs when he got this one, one of which was in NYC. I bloody love that place.

Having said that all the talk of snow suits while I'm shopping online just for tights and jumpers makes me glad I'm here! We're going home for Christmas so I'll get a proper cosy restive season in then return to the relative warmth. Christ its hot at the moment now though....

Passed my driving test last week, renewed our insurance to put me on the car, updating our address in the meantime and premiums have gone waaaaay down because DH walks to work - finding more and more reasons to be glad of that short commute.

Oh I want a local munsnetter!!!

aw we want you to be our local MNer too!

Come to NJ! The taxes are high and the air quality is appalling ... erm, not that this makes it a biig draw.

TBH I used to be a new yorker, but where I live now is definitely suburbia. It's a bit like living in, I dunno, Berkshire and pretending you live in London. Yes, you technically could go into the big city to see a show or go shopping, but you don't that much, because there's always some mundane thing to do.

might stick my west coast sunshine then

Middle America Mumsnet meet?!

:) I do want to come to the west coast one day. Ooh I really do. I've got former colleagues who've moved to Tacoma, Washington and I always imagine myself on a cross-country drive to see them.

Nothing would upset DS more than being in the car for hours, but it's a dream :)

Girl Come on over to the dirty side! Great to hear that you have had good experiences with MyGym. We are thinking of pulling DD out of daycare once I have passed my CPA exams until I go back to work. I think DD would benefit from doing a class like that if she was home with me. Congrats on the DL too!

flip I concur with blackcurrant. I would also add that costco has a great return policy so if you need pots and pans until yours arrive I would get a costco membership. Once your stuff arrives you can return them for a full refund. Ikea is worth going to for the cafe alone. I have taken my friends son there for lunch before.

We had our 20 week scan yesterday and found out that we are having a boy. The lovely lady doing the scan took a picture of his tinky wink. I will be pulling that out to embarrass him when he is older!

ooh congrats want2 - a little boy! How lovely! :)
I love having a son, it's huge fun. Expect to see that penis a lot in the coming years, is all I'm saying. We didn't circumcise DS and our pediatrician remarked at his 2 year check up that he had a 'very mobile foreskin, no forseeable problems there."

"Aah yes," I said, solemnly. "DS is putting a lot of work in there. Lots of twanging."
And the highly caring, very professional doctor cracked up: "Yeah." He said. "Yeah, that'll happen with little boys."

That is so funny. I love our obn and paediatrican group. Both advised us against circumcising. Our paediatrican is very Jewish and his comment was 'Just because we used to live in caves doesn't mean we still should.' DH is very opposed to circumcising but as I am Jewish it was something I considered normal until DH pointed out that it wasn't!

Flip I am also home and easily distracted.... FWIW go to the Target of rt 22 or on rt 10. The Target closest to us in Vauxhall is a mess and the customer service is awful.

blackcurrants if you ever make that trip be sure to look me up! Though to be fair all of DH's dreams of road trips to and across the deep south are on hold for a while - it was painful enough doing the Big Sur with 2DC

want2b that's so exciting!! An in the good position of having one of each so am able to say both are great but we were ever so slightly disappointed when we learnt DC2 was going to be a girl because we were having so much fun with DS. Wouldn't change DD for the world now though of course

Girl, the weather should start to cool down now. Usually October and the first half of Nov are lovely. If you miss the cooler crisp air you might consider a trip up to Lake Arrowhead for the day/weekend.