Month: January 2015

Snowstorm Juno

Today is Snowstorm Juno, our first official snow day here. Although I must say, New York shuts down in a v methodical way, none of the grinding-to-a-startled-halt you get when it snows in London.

We had heard about Snowstorm Juno on the news, but frankly the American media is so sensationalised, we didn’t really pay much attention until we got text alerts from the girls’ school and day care warning that all kids must be collected by 3pm and to prepare for no schools the next day (today). Then a rather startling text with a siren ring tone from New York City itself (seriously) saying all vehicles must be off the road by 11pm whilst the snow ploughs get to work. Just tried to find that message and it’s gone from my phone. Sinister, do they have a list of every New Yorker’s cell phones??
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Exploring Brooklyn Children’s Museum

Schools were closed for Martin Luthor King Day on Monday, so took the opportunity to tick off another Bucket List item – Brooklyn Children’s Museum.

Had an unusually smooth ride to Brooklyn on the subway, somebody offered to help carry the pushchair at every single staircase (and there are a lot), and managed not to get lost once. Good job. Have found the secret is to write down in advance exactly which line you want and its final destination, since once you’re on the platform there are no maps or lists of stops. Oh for the London Underground signage system…

The museum is easy to spot as you walk from Kingston Avenue subway station, tiled in the brightest yellow, with crimson walls. Entry tickets cost $9, babies under 1 go free, and the pushchairs can be stowed away for free too, so it’s a pretty economical day out by New York standards.
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How to survive the school run when it’s -12c

We’re back in New York after a wonderful Christmas break in the UK, and now adjusting to the reality of a school run in our first New York winter. This morning the building’s thermometer read -12 degrees Celsius.

The cold has brought some fresh challenges to the school run this term. Normally we drop B off for the morning at her little local nursery, leave her pram there, and then T scoots beside me on the way to her school. But it’s simply too cold for scooting now, T’s eyes keep filling with water (not sure if it’s the cold or the wind chill – probably both). So I’ve assembled the gigantic double buggy, and bundled them up like little Eskimos.
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