Out of the House

I live in Vancouver, Canada.

The "jewel" on the Pacific.

I have lived in Vancouver all my life. I grew up in a working class house. Dad was a tradesman, mum stayed at home. They owned their own single family home on the East Side - well, the bank owned it - but they were on their way. I had a big back yard and we were close to a park and both levels of schools.

Something happened to housing prices in this city between my childhood and my adulthood with children of my own.

The husband and I are both working professionals. We cannot afford even a townhome or large apartment in this city. Wait, we could afford an apartment or townhome if we choose not to have children and we both worked full time. As it is, we choose to have two beautiful children. The question begged, where to we raise them.

We were lucky, we managed to get into co-operative housing. This is housing that is "member owned" as opposed to owned individually or housing that is rented by a landlord. We paid a share purchase of $2500 and then pay just under $1000 per month. The home is basic, hardly luxurious. However, we are walking distance to schools, library, community centers, grocery shopping and next door to a bus stop that will take us anywhere in the city. We also have a wilderness park abutting our backyard. $1000 per month for this in one of the most expensive cities is pretty darn good.

However, it is not the home/yard of my own childhood. Gone is the huge basement where I would spend hours childproof "playroom" where I could run, do crafts and wreck havoc without wrecking my parents house. Gone is the huge backyard which was like an enclosed advertureland for a four year old.

I go crazy keeping the kids out of things. I need to get out of the house. It's not that I want to get out of the house - I NEED to get out of the house. I am lucky - one of the programs operating near my cooped up co-op is called "Family Place"

Family Place is a program funded partly by membership, the Provincial government and some civic funding. It operates three times per week. Parents and children (ages 5 and under) go there to play and socialize. None of the parents meeting here has a big basement. None of them has a big backyard. We are all in co-ops, basement suites and subsidized units. Some parents are cash strapped as they purchased small townhouses and have little left over after mortgage and other necessary monthly expenses. We are all welcome at Family Place. The program is free.

I appreciate this program on so many levels. It saves my sanity. It is fun for the kids. I get to speak to other parents in the area and the co-ordinators are wonderful and knowledgable about all issues involving children and families.

Having young children can be very isolating. Parents take a huge cut in income (either by choosing not to work full time or paying for expenisive daycare). Many places are not welcoming for young children and their parents (such as having clean, accessible public washrooms with change tables). We end up spending a lot of time at home. When home is very small - we go a little nuts.

I write this entry into my blog for a couple of reasons:

1. To say "Thank You" to Family Place.

2. To say to anyone without children - Please be patient when you see a parent with a stroller coming onto the bus. Show some compassion when you see a parent navigating through the mall with three kids (all in diapers). Please support programs that support young parents in your community, in your churches/places of worship.  Families are part of the community and they NEED the community.

We are just losing our minds and need to get out of the house.