When Tim and I decided we’d like to buy a home a couple years ago, we started the search in Brooklyn and quickly discovered that we were priced out. Of course, my parents wanted us to move close-by to them (see: on their block) but it is next to impossible with our budget and wish list.
Our wish list included: a big, or at least decent-sized, backyard; a kitchen island; maybe a fireplace; a garage; 3+ bedrooms; and 2+ bathrooms. Plus, we didn’t really want to have to do much work to the house. In Brooklyn, that’ll cost you at least $1 million … We looked (very little) in Long Island on our own to no avail.
Therefore, we had to make the decision: do we settle for a co-op (I say settle because it wouldn’t have much of anything on our wish list) or do we move out of the city?
Well, we did not think a coop was our best option at the moment. We had dreams of a house and did not want to let that dream go for the near future. (If we bought a coop, we imagined we’d live in it for a few years or more…) I also did not want to keep looking in Long Island because at the time, it felt too far and overwhelming as I was imagining how much life was going to change with a baby.
We ultimately decided to halt our search and shifted our priorities from owning a home to getting ready to welcome our first baby, S. We decided, for various reasons, that renting was the best option for us at the moment.
Here’s why renting could be your best option, too:
What better way to celebrate upcoming Mother’s Day than treating yourself or a special breastfeeding mama in your life to a portable, powerful AND comfortable FREE breast pump kit by Baby Buddha?!
I was walking on the subway platform and I saw your baby wrapped up in your arms. You looked at her lovingly, and I smiled at you. You smiled back.
I don’t know if you and I speak the same languages but it doesn’t matter.
I recognized you held your whole world in your arms.
Your hopes and your dreams. Your worries and your fears.
Your biggest accomplishment. Your “who” and “why.”
Your greatest love.
This post contains affiliate links, purchases from which I may benefit.
Soon after finding out about this pregnancy, my husband and I decided we would transition S from co-sleeping with us to a toddler bed sometime before Baby #2’s birth. The thought both excited and saddened me. I have never really spoken about our co-sleeping experience, particularly because there is much debate around it, but it was one I really cherished.
In an effort to make the transition go as smoothly as possible, my husband and I bought S this Mickey Mouse toddler bed since he is a big fan of Mickey.
We surprised him with the bed on Christmas morning, after nearly 1.5 years of co-sleeping. Admittedly, we almost returned the bed when we realized it sits on the floor. However, this has proven to actually be of huge convenience for S to safely climb in and out of bed on his own.
Not surprising at all, S loved it. He jumped in it and played with the clock at the foot of the bed immediately. Then, Christmas night, we told S we were going to put him to bed and told him to get to his bed in his room. Much to our surprise, he directed us to his bedroom and got into his bed! We read to him, played classical lullaby music and eventually he fell asleep… and slept in his bed through the night!
He has slept in his bed every night since. I know the arrival of Baby #2 might throw his sleep routine through a loop and seeing the baby in my and my husband’s bedroom might make S want to sleep in our room again… We will cross that bridge when we get there, though.
For now, we’re relishing in having our bed and bedroom to ourselves again and we are just SO proud of S for rocking his transition from co-sleeping to his very own bed.