Is Fresh Air overrated?

For the past few days, I’ve been out in Denver, Colorado for business. And though many of you may know me as a former card-carrying denizen of Manhattan’s nightlife, you might also be surprised to know that I spent a lot of time in Colorado as a teenager...skiing in the glades, biking in the hills and rafting in the rivers. I bring this up only to let you know that the incredible beauty of Colorado has never been lost on me.

But today, my friends, is different. Today is the first time that I looked at Colorado’s beauty through the new spectacles of Fatherhood…and boy am I depressed. Getting out of bed this morning and looking out at the snow-tipped mountains, I couldn’t help but think that I'm short-changing my newborn daughter by continuing to live in New York City. What am I doing putting Sharper Image Ionic Breeze Air Purifiers all over my apartment when I could just bring my daughter out here to breathe the fresh mountain air? Surely, my little Peanut deserves more than this!

Needless to say, people generally don't live in Manhattan because of the air quality. We live here because we're restless and neurotic misfits, unsuited to live in any other part of the country. We live here because we love the fast pace, the opportunities and the convenient fact that you can get any food delivered to your house when you're drunk at 2:00 am. We also live here because we love the museums, the arts, and complaining about traffic. But air quality? Nope. Never been very high on the list of reasons for living in Manhattan.

But I have a 6 week-old baby girl now who has stolen my heart and completely changed my life. So, needless to say, all of my lifestyle decisions are currently being reevaluated on a regular basis. And most of these decisions are being reassessed with only one sole criteria in mind...what's best for my little Peanut.

I have to warn you though; I'm a little crazy. When I think about my daughter and what's best for her, all rational thought can disappear from my body. I'm so instinctively protective that I can get practically manic. If I think my daughter needs fresh air, then I'm going to get her that fresh air as fast as humanly possible. So don't just stand there, dammit! Quick. Hand me that phone! I've got to call the real estate broker!

But then I stop and start to think. Do you think my daughter might want to have some fresh air? What if she doesn't like it? After all, it's not for everyone. BossLady and I love breathing in fresh mountain air while skiing or snowboarding. But to tell you the truth, every time we drive out to the suburbs and smell the freshly-mowed grass, we end up with terrible allergies that practically require bedrest, IV drips of Benadryl, and piles of Kleenex. Last time we drove out to the country, we returned to Manhattan sniffling so badly that people must have thought we spent the weekend partying with Robert Downey Jr., Tara Reid and the Dallas Cowboys.

So maybe fresh air isn't all that it's cracked up to be? Hmmm...I'm going to have to think about this one for awhile. As usual, it fits into the larger argument about whether BossLady and I are doing the right thing by raising our daughter in New York City. Kids here grow up fast. Most 16-year old girls here don't ask for ponies on their birthday. They ask for credit cards and a boob job. No way am I going to let my daughter turn out like that. But can I raise her to be a caring, well-adjusted child while living in Manhattan? That remains to be seen.

Stay tuned tomorrow where we'll discuss Little League, Norman Rockwell and the 86th Street Gang.

Comments

[Suzanne]

Sometimes I miss living in New York City. I was twenty something back then, single, and shopping like a maniac! I lived on 95th and 2nd with 5 other roomates! What a life. You're right though,...nothing like that would happen in Savannah, that's for sure! ha

[Moxie]

I think about this sometimes, too. I used to think about it all the time, when my son was tiny. But since he's been a toddler, walking and running around the city, I've realized that there are huge advantages to be gained by raising a kid here. Some of them are just snobby things. I like that my kid knows the ins and outs of public transportation (he could put the Metrocard into the bus reader the right way when he was 10 months old--I'd just lean over with him in the sling and he'd put it in--Take that, tourists!). I like that he knows what edamame are and that he likes to eat them. I like that he's a pro at eating at restaurants by now (almost 3) because we've kept going to them his whole life.

I also like that he doesn't have a concept of private ownership of outdoor space. To him, anything outside is public space--parks, streets, etc. When he's somplace where people own their own years, he'll say things like, "I want to go play in that playground!" Or "Why aren't there any kids in that playground?"

He interacts with a huge slice of humanity on any given day. He knows about all the kinds of jobs that people have, from construction workers to restaurants bussers to business executives to building supers, that many kids in the suburbs or country don't ever encounter. He knows about maintaining personal space on the subway, and talking quietly when you're in a crowd. He doesn't think that people who don't look like him are any big deal.

I think it's important to give him exposure to fresh air when I can, but I think the things he's learning as a city kid are going to be better for him in the long run than just hvaing clean lungs. When you have a baby, the city just seems so big and dirty and hostile. It's more fun with a toddler--you can introduce them to the joys of Delcioso Coco Helado and the Metrocard machines.

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