A Heart in New York

New York
To that tall skyline I come
Flying in from London to your door
New York
Looking down on Central Park…..

For the last week our house has been humming this tune by Simon and Garfunkel in great anticipation of our weekend trip to The Big Apple. Brad and I have been three times, but this Friday will mark the first time our children will get to experience this city and I am overjoyed. Some may say I am crazy for taking young children to this place, but I can hardly wait to show our kids what has become our favorite city in the world. Sure, Brad and I will have to have an extra dose of patience and I know there will be moments of whining about tired feet and the threat of rain, but I have learned through their short lives that world travel does indeed shape who they are, their worldview, and oftentimes their personal preferences. This hit home to me as I was admiring the beautiful hills and large unattached homes on the spacious Texas land a few weeks ago to the daughter, and she exclaimed that she preferred when all of the homes were stuck together in a row straight down a street. Much like her time in Europe. I was simply shocked.

The kids love tall buildings, crowded streets, and underground transportation and as they are getting older (7 & 4) I thought we would throw a little map reading into the fun. In fact, we have been studying maps in our “school time” (we are home schooling the kids while we are in the US). They will each have their own little kid friendly laminated home-made map with all of their favorite places to visit. And if you ever take your kids to visit, may I recommend Kathy Jakobsen’s My New York kid book? It is amazing and can get anyone giddy with her illustrations.

Soon we will post photos and of course I’ll be working on a video. The daughter is most looking forward to visiting Chinatown. Cringe. The jury is out…will she end up liking it? What is Brad’s least favorite area of NYC? You guessed it, Chinatown. Should be quite humorous.

New York
Like a scene from all those movies
But you’re real enough to me
But there’s a heart
A heart that lives in New York