Our new neighborhood

We were really nervous moving into our new neighborhood…. would the new neighbors be cool? Will we fit in? Well the short answer is yes and yes!

I’d love to give Arizona the credit for our amazing neighborhood, but really I think it’s luck of the draw no matter where you are. All but one of our immediate 8 neighbors came over and introduced themselves within a week of us living here. We helped the situation by spending a lot of time in our front yard, making us more approachable.

Cut to last Sunday where I counted 8 kids in my living room. Many of them just walk in without knocking, help themselves to water, and leave their shoes laying around like they live here. And I love it. I may have to vacuum a bit more, and wash some extra cups, but it’s worth it. My kids have several houses to choose from with kids to play with. We definitely didn’t have that before. It’s loud and its fantastic.

Several nights a week you will also find all these kids riding their bikes and scooters in the culdesac. Most have outfitted their bikes with lights, so we can stay out even now that it’s dark early. I love the sound of kids playing outside. I love that they are being active (like kids used to) and not sitting around playing video games. The parents are outside too- all of us chatting or bitching, or just catching up. On the weekends you will find us gathered outside, drink in hand, while the kids run the court. I love getting more adult time, while my kids are active.

So many people say that kids never play outside anymore. That was the case in our old neighborhood, but we were also on a busy street. I love the culdesac life, with less worry about kids getting plowed over. Our kids have very limited screen time, and I think most of the time they would rather run the neighborhood with their friends anyway. They are riding bikes, roller skating (well my 5 year old is trying to), having nerf gun battles, and playing tag. It’s a glimpse at the old normal…. the way things were when we were kids- wow I sound old!

If you don’t know your neighbors it’s never too late to open up the conversation. The holidays are a great excuse to drop off a card or goodies, and meet them. We knew all our neighbors in our old neighborhood- unfortunately there weren’t a bunch of kids in those households. Now our kids are blessed with multiple houses with kids to play with.

There are many days where I still question our choice to move. I miss my friends and family back home. But, it’s days like last Sunday, when my house is full of kids playing hide-and-seek, and then later riding bikes in the court- that I smile. THIS is why we moved. THIS is a better quality of life for my kids- and for us.