Wednesday, April 11, 2007

The Season of Our Redemption

I'm going to put my helmet on because I'm sure to be pelted with stones by acknowledging that I am not in post-Pesach collapse mode simply because we are lucky enough to spend all eight days of the holiday at my parents' house. That being said, it is so nice to be back home in my own bed. With almost all of the immense amounts of laundry done and put away. Surrounded by our own stuff. And not by stuff that is decorative, sharp, breakable and dangerous.

There is nothing like spending time away from the 933 square feet of this apartment to make me long for it. We hear occasional well-meant comments from extended family members who "would love to see us in a bigger space," but I have no immediate desire to move. The kids share a room, so there's still an empty third bedroom here, and I'm just not feeling the pinch.

My wish list is 1) An extra half-bathroom to up the number of toilets from one; 2) A driveway or other adjacent parking spot; 3) Backyard space big enough for a couple of kids to let off some steam and maybe splash around in a plastic pool in the summer.

What I find with a house with stairs is that the kids always want to be downstairs when I'm up, and upstairs when I'm down. The wrought-ironness of the banister at my folks' house means that if I lived there, I would find some way of putting up a gate, but for occasional use, it's not a simple 'whip up a simple, pressure-mounted gate and worry no more!' situation. So there's a lot of monitoring, chasing, rescuing, and cringing. I think Andy heard the words "Oh no!" more than he heard the word "matzah". Sorry, Andy. You won't be 17 months old forever.

We had a really nice time with my parents. But it really was priceless to see the kids delight in being reintroduced to their surroundings. Redeemed. Post-Pesach.

11 comments:

mother in israel said...

Aren't you planning to make aliyah pretty soon anyway?

Glad you're back!

Jack Steiner said...

933 SQF- oy that is tight.

Ezzie said...

933 - humungous! :)

I made the mistake of asking what the prices were in Cleveland over first days... ugh. Think thusly: Your apartment = 4+ bedrooms, front/backyards, driveway, garage, basement, attic...

mother in israel said...

Sounds roomy to me for two kids. But then, I don't live in LA.

Stacey said...

Glad you had a good Pesach. It can be so hard to be houseguests with little ones. But coming home is always great. There is no place like home.

P.S. After reading Ezzie's comment, I am feeling guilty about my 3200 square feet, back yard, and 2.5 car garage. All for only $300K. Move to Texas, RaggedyMom. I need another Jew in the neighborhood! And the people are soooooooo friendly here.

socialworker/frustrated mom said...

I am happy pesach was good, it's hard to get back to life. I understand the frustrations of a small apt.

PsychoToddler said...

I paid 79K for my 3br house here in the Heilege Milvaukee in '91. Humongous houses are had for about $200K these days.

orieyenta said...

I always feel the same way when we return from a trip...it's always nice to get away but it sure is nice when we get home and are in our own surroundings.

933 square feet?! We must be spoiled here - we have almost 4 times that and I feel like we never have enough space.

RaggedyMom said...

Mother in Israel - RaggedyDad finishes school in a couple of years, so the plan is hopefully soon after that! Most of my brother in Yerushalayim's neighbors would consider ours to be a luxury apartment where they could easily fit a good several more kids!

Jack - LOL, it's so relative. By LA standards, I guess it's on the small side!

Ezzie - Beautiful, spacious living out there - but, then you look around, and you realize, "I'm in Cleveland!" :)

Stacey - What does half a car look like? One of my favorite posts of yours was when you put up pictures of your house! We may not be moving to Texas anytime soon, but it's nice to dream!

SWFM - Thanks!

PT - 79K! And then you look around, and you may ask yourself, "I'm in Milwaukee! How did I get here?!" LOL.
I do think that the major jump in quality of life outside of NY only serves to add a huge amount of value to the actual cost of living in places like Ohio, Texas, and Wisconsin.

Orieyenta - I'm such a homebody. Glad to know it's not just me. But . . Miami is nice - so I'll say it twice!

Orthonomics said...

We have 1100 square feet I think, but no 3rd bedroom which would make a huge difference since that means our office is in the livingroom. But 2 bathrooms is a great feature and I don't think I could ever go back to one.

Baruch Hashem, we are actually moving on up soon. :) I finally had it, even though our place is plenty big.

And I thought you were in KGH, not LA? I'm familiar with both places.

RaggedyMom said...

SL - Sorry if I was unclear - we are in KGH! I meant that compared to LA standards, our place is probably small, but among our apartment chevrah, our space is on the larger/more rooms side.