Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Growing Up in the City vs. Country

Whenever Edith hears whirring blades high above our house, she is quick to point them out. "Helicopter!" she proclaims several times a day.

Growing up in rural northwest Ohio, I wonder if I had even heard a helicopter by the time I was two years old, let alone seen one. But we hear and see hospital, news or police helicopters several times a day here in Columbus.

It's the helicopters that really brought home to me how different Edith and Atticus's upbringing is going to be than my own. Perhaps not in essentials -- I feel I have basically the same ideas about raising kids as my parents do -- but in atmosphere, certainly.

The cornfields of my childhood have been replaced by houses just more than a hand's reach away for Edith and Atticus. The closest grocery store when I grew up was a 15-minute car ride away. We can walk to Kroger here -- not to mention the library, rec center and quite a few stores and restaurants. It takes my dad several hours on a riding lawn mower to cut the grass. Paul and our push mower can get our postage-stamp lawn done in less than an hour.

Of course, with city living also comes more traffic, more noise and more crime. But I'll take my chances. I like it here, and I hope Edith and Atticus will have as happy of a childhood as I did -- no matter how different it is.

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