My Neighbourhood

When we moved in March, I knew we loved the house, but I had no idea what the neighbourhood would be like. We really enjoyed our neighbourhood in the Hastings/Sunrise area. All I knew about the area was that we were moving onto the same street as my in-laws (they live a few blocks down), and a grocery store, library, elementary school, parks and Trout Lake were within walking distance. I had no idea just how many children lived on my block!

The first families we met were the ones that live in our strata lot. There are five homes on our lot (2 duplexes and 1 detached), and out of the five lots are four stay-at-home moms, with 7 kids under 8 years old between us. Soon after moving in, my neighbour two houses up knocked on the door with a bag of cookies and a 2 year old on her hip (she has 3 kids total). It turns out that there are about 15 kids under 9 years old within a half a block (all on our side of the street too).

When the babies get the 4pm blues, or if they are particularly fussy, I take them out to the front of our house where there is usually 1-3 moms hanging around with their kids. I don't have to go further than the curb and there is someone to help me out by holding a baby! Carmen and Lena love going out to just watch all the kids in action. If I open the front door around dinner time, Carmen clambers up the to the baby gate and cries to get out. If I let her, she'll crawl all the way to the front of the house to sit and watch the kids play. And the kids love the babies. They try to make them laugh, hold them, help them walk, and entertain them. I feel so grateful to live on such an amazing street with so many moms, kids and so much support. I'm also so happy for Carmen and Lena to grow up with kids to play with literally right outside their door.

Thanks to my neighbours who make living here so wonderful!