By Hi, WeLoveDC readers. I’m back. Baby in the City is an occasional series exploring what it’s like to live a specifically urban-dwelling lifestyle with a baby. (Nothing but love for you suburban-dwelling minivan drivers, it’s just not for me.)
I am a city mouse. When we moved 7 blocks from a Metro station and across the street from a bus stop, we promptly became a one-car family. I take transit or bike as much as I can and have become allergic to looking for parking downtown. My smartphone is full of apps for navigating transit (in multiple cities!), hailing cabs, finding bike routes, and reserving carshare vehicles. I’m a city-loving, multi-modal lady.
And then we found out I was pregnant. And for a moment, I wavered- did we need a second car? Something with lots of cargo space for toting around strollers and whatnot? Was I going to have to get good at… parallel parking?! (You guys, I am so not good at parallel parking.)
But of course I won’t- plenty of people transport their pre-walking children around the city without a car all day because they have to. It’s not that hard to make it work when you want to. But like anything else involving a baby, it requires a little bit of planning. Here’s what I’m learning as a new parent getting around town with a very small baby: