Southern Charm
Monday, March 10th, 2014From Monday Mom – Neetika:
As I mentioned in last week’s post, we are on a family vacation this week. It’s been really wonderful. We’re visiting my husband’s parents, who live in a charming community with a small town feeling. The weather is warm, the people are friendly, and the food is fried. Southern living at it’s best!
Haley has really thrived under these new conditions. It’s warm enough for her to play outside all day with only short breaks. She rides her tricycle, pops bubbles, writes in sidewalk chalk, and throws her ball around—all before 8 AM! Needless to say, she has been sleeping great. Her appetite has vastly improved and she chows down on foods she only recently rejected.
As a parent, it’s a great feeling to be able to expose your child to a world they don’t usually inhabit. Our city life is certainly an interesting one, but there’s a lot to be said for the wide-open spaces and fresh air of the country. It’s also been interesting for my husband and me to get a sense of what a different kind of a life would feel like. Who knows? Maybe something similar is in our future.
It’s obvious that one’s place of upbringing shapes who one becomes as a person. Who would I be if I weren’t from New York? Who will Haley become if we don’t stay? No one will ever know the answers to these questions. But as parents make decisions for the welfare of their families, they are shaping their children’s destinies in such a meaningful way. I don’t know that we’ll remove Haley away from the “urban girl” path she’s on. But I know she’ll be exposed to many ways of living, and I hope she can appreciate them all.
