Hoboken Mom Condo Living
Planning the long-term & juggling the everyday

Summertime means toddler beach day trips to Rockaway beaches (Coney Island, Jones Beach, etc). Column at http://patch.com/A-ySG

Toddler swim class at Sky Club pool

I was really surprised at how nice the pool was. There is a small jacuzzi that we used as a starter pool since this was the first time my son had ever been in a pool. I put swim floats on both kids and sat with my son on the steps while my daughter happily paddled away. The water was warm and the pool had seating all around the sides, which was great for my very nervous 2 year old son.

The following week the jacuzzi was closed, so we had to take the plunge into the big pool. Surprisingly, that went extremely well. My son sat on the steps with the other kids (I was happy just to get him in the water) while my daughter splashed from back and forth in the Olympic-size pool. The water only felt a few degrees cooler than the jacuzzi, and was a welcome relief from the blazing heat outdoors. I also really liked the patio doors that were flung wide open onto a sunny outdoor deck; it gave the whole area a luxurious feel, like we were on an oceangoing liner.

We have been attending classes once a week for the last five weeks, and every class has been a success. My daughter is actually almost swimming on her own, and my son has been steadily getting more confident, venturing out onto a ledge adjacent to the main steps where he can stand chest-high in the water. I LOVE the fact that the pool is across the street from our home; we take our time showering and leaving while the the kids excitedly check out the lobby fireplace and cafeteria (really wish they offered an a la carte lunch similar to airports, with prepackaged healthy sandwiches and salads). They take really solid naps after swim class and go to sleep instantaneously at night.

Since they love the pool so much, I have decided to take the financial plunge and sign up for a gym membership after swim class ends next week. Fortunately, Sky Club offers a corporate discount rate of $89/month with no signup fee (did you know that condo associations qualify? Neither did I!) and the membership advisor, Taneeka Britt, agreed to extend the offer to the three Hoboken buildings I am associated with; the Neapolitan, 133 Harrison, and the Hoboken Grande. Residents of those buildings should contact Taneeka and use the code, “MOMBLOG” to qualify for the corporate rate. There is a one-year commitment involved, but the price is $10 below the standard rate of $99/month, and there is an additional discount for multi-member households.

The best part of the deal is that if any of those buildings signs up 20 or more members, Sky Club will discount the corporate rate by an additional $10/month ($79 monthly rate), applicable to all existing members. Taneeka agreed to combine the Neapolitan and 133 Harrison for the count since one of the buildings only has a few units.

I am already planning informal swim classes with a couple of other moms since once I am a member, I can get them day passes to the pool. This is a great way to ensure my daughter continues to get the minimum 150 minutes of weekly physical activity to ensure peak health even after she starts school. I am also looking forward to tiring the kids out in the pool come wintertime when our marathon walks around Hoboken get curtailed by snow and freezing temperatures. I can also use the free wifi in the cafeteria to get some work done on days when I need to get out of the house; Sky Club Fitness has agreed to host some moms networking meetings, which is awesome.

I just found out about a vacancy in a developer-owned unit in an elevator building. Unit is 1400 square feet, rent is $3200/month. Floorplan & photos at http://bit.ly/133harrison

7/31 Update: The apartment has been rented at the asking price. Not bad for only 48 hours on the market! The Hoboken rental market has been incredibly strong over the last few months, I am curious about the implications for the sale market.

My kids and I frequently take the Light Rail to Jersey City to shop and visit friends who love living there. When it came time to buy a large home, we opted for Hoboken because of the walkability and small town feel. Newspaper column at http://patch.com/A-xVg

When I was a child, I learned the parable of Joseph and the coat of many colors. The thing I took away from that tale was the seven fat years followed by 7 lean years. During the late 1990s to early 2000s, when my husband and I were both working full-time, I made sure to save a comfortable amount each year as an emergency/investment fund. Windfall income like bonuses and income tax refunds went right into savings.

During boom times, nobody ever thinks the party is going to end. Easy credit facilitated trying to match the Jones, with everyone buying homes, flat screen TVs, and new cars. It was psychologically hard during those years for me and my husband to live frugally, buying a home in an unfashionable part of Hoboken and wearing our clothes and shoes until they wore out, often mending them until they were beyond repair. But our thriftiness paid off. When the bubble burst in the fall of 2008, we had almost 50% equity in our home plus a large cash cushion.

During each of the last three recessions, the degree of economic insecurity has increased by 150% over the prior one, with minority groups disproportionately impacted. That was a huge factor in our decision to buy a large home in Hoboken. We felt that the highly educated population had a good chance of remaining employed, and that even those experiencing unemployment were likely to have financial resources to tide them through bad times, thus making foreclosure unlikely. It is also fairly easy to rent your home in Hoboken since the population is transient and we are so close to NYC, with 24-hour public transportation. We also liked the fact that Hoboken is only one square mile; that means there are limits to how much development can take place, thereby devaluing our property by dramatically increasing the supply of homes.

So, at a time when many people thought we were headed into a global depression, my husband and I took the plunge to make the biggest purchase of our lives. Our family now has the stability and space we need to flourish, and that was the gamble I made when we purchased our home. And our bet paid off. We are now in the process of rebuilding our finances as a hedge against the future, but we got exactly the home we wanted at a good price and excellent interest rate. I have also found Hoboken to be a hotbed of industry and innovation; I am collaborating with a bunch of other moms to provide professional consulting services to local businesses that work with our family responsibilities, and also talking to another mom about starting a Montessori co-op to get the best education for our toddlers at an affordable price. Only in a city that is a mile square and has so many educated, proactive residents would these kinds of opportunities be possible.

The bookkeeper position has been filled by one of the moms from the consulting network. I am also in talks with several local businesses for bookkeeping, project management and web development opportunities, will post more info when I have it.

I recently filed my 2009 taxes (thank you, deadline extension!) and found out I am receiving a huge refund because of our itemized deductions. If you are a homeowning dual-income couple with one full-time employee and one consultant, it can be really beneficial tax-wise. More details at http://bit.ly/bNZFc6, login required.

UCLA recently videotaped 32 suburban families for one full week to get a handle on individual stress levels and to quantify the the amount of time spent on chores, child care, and leisure. The NYTimes reports that: “Inside the homes, researchers found rooms crammed with toys, DVDs, videos, books, exercise machines; refrigerators buried in magnets; and other odds and ends. The clutter on the fridge door tended to predict the amount of clutter elsewhere.

Outside the homes, the yards were open and green — but “no one was out there,” said Jeanne E. Arnold, a U.C.L.A. archaeologist who worked on the study. One family had a 17,000-square-foot yard, with a pool and a trampoline, and not even the children ventured out there during the study.”

I have noticed before that people tend to use their outdoor space a lot less than they expect. When I visit relatives in suburban Westchester, I never see anyone in the backyards, despite manicured grass and gorgeous swing sets. If the point of moving to the suburbs is having a backyard, then I think people need to seriously evaluate how much they are going to use it.

I used to own a 2-bedroom apartment with a giant outdoor space. I noticed after the first couple of years that we rarely went outside, even when the weather was nice. I tried buying really nice outdoor furniture, a carpet and huge umbrellas to provide shade, and we still didn’t go outside much. No al fresco breakfasts or dinners, aside from the occasional family barbecue. It was either too sunny and hot (our unit faced full south), or it was getting dark and the mosquitoes were out. Even after we had kids, we would maybe use the space for half an hour on nice days.

So when the time came to move into a bigger home, I knew that we wanted some outdoor space but that indoor space was higher priority because we would use it frequently. We wound up getting a 2,100 square foot 4-bedroom with a 120 sf balcony, and the combination has worked out really nicely. We have enough outdoor space for the kids to plant flowers and herbs, paint on their easel and play in their wading pool. They shovel snow in the winter and barbecue in the summer.

Living in a walkable town like Hoboken provides lots of opportunity for playing outdoors. The kids and I leave the house to go to classes or the playground in the morning. We walk over to Washington Street to pick up organic sesame pretzels (low salt!) and freeze-dried fruit at Basic Foods. We pick up frozen yogurt or ice cream on the way back home. We are out of the house for easily five hours, and we are walking around the entire time, so the kids get fresh air and exercise.

If we lived in the suburbs, I don’t think I would ever leave the house. Packing supplies and a stroller for a day out in the car is a huge excursion, whereas I leave my double stroller set up and ready to go each morning. On Fridays, we often meet my husband at the ferry terminal and walk home together for dinner and bathtime. His 35-minute commute makes it easy to spend time together as a family, and not having to mow the lawn on weekends is priceless.

As a corollary to my newborn necessity list; a friend requested a list of what I would buy if I were having twins.

• 2 carseats (Graco SnugRide is the one most moms prefer b/c it is light; easy to carry around)
• 2 carseat bases
• Double Snap N Go Stroller (to hold both carseats, should work as long as babies are in their carseats, up to about 6 months)
• 2 convertible carseats for after babies outgrow infant seats: Britax Marathon if you have a huge car, Sunshine Kids Radian80 if you have a smaller car (same height/weight allowance as Britax but much narrower)
• City Mini Double Stroller (use AFTER twins outgrow snap n go, carseat adapter has terrible reviews)
• 1 co-sleeper (GET 4 FITTED SHEETS)
• 2 Graco Pack N Plays (comes w/changing station) (GET 6 FITTED SHEETS)
• 2 infant swings (either Papasan Cradle Swing or Fisher Price Cradle Swing, which has a higher height limit)
• 2 bouncy chairs (Baby Bjorn if you like pricey style, otherwise Fisher Price)
• 2 Ergo baby carriers
• 2 Kidco Peapod travel beds (great for naps away from home)
• 2 fixed gate cribs that convert to toddler beds
• 2 Sealy crib mattresses
• 2 mattress pads
• 2 crib bedding sets (get 2 quilts, 2 pillows, 4 pillow shams, 2 bumper pads for use when newborns)
• 4 waterproof crib pads (goes between mattress pad and sheet, use for co-sleeper, pack n play & crib)
• 4 waterproof bassinet pads (for holding baby on lap/sofa/impromptu changing on rug/bed)
• 6 crib sheets (I prefer jersey knit ones, less prone to dryer shrinkage)
• 2 waterproof sheet protectors (for your bed, either when water breaks or baby pees in bed: INEVITABLE)
• 1 play yard (for when they start to crawl)
• 1 or 2 playmats (goes under play yard, great for tummy time)
• 1 activity gym
• 2 Whoozit spirals for strollers
• 2 Whoozits for cribs/swing
• 1 bathtub
• 8 swaddle blankets
• 4 small sleep sacks
• 4 medium sleep sacks
• 4 large sleep sacks
• 4 X-Large sleep sacks
• 4 soft blankets
• 2 hooded towels (do NOT get the PBK animal ones, they are too small)

Babyproofing (don’t know if you want to put this on a registry)

• Coffee table toddler shield
• Outlet caps (Safety First ones also work well)
• Kitchen/bath vanity cabinet locks (I use these, most people use these)
• Power strip covers (quantity depends on how many you use or laptops, etc)

But in the end, it was the only logical choice. Large condos at much lower prices than in Brooklyn, a second bathroom and easy access to transportation were important elements in our decision, but the deciding factor was the 21% difference in income taxes.

Newspaper column at http://patch.com/A-xmm

I have been redecorating my condo because I can’t stand the piles of clutter everywhere and the awkward pieces of furniture shoved in corners. Rule #1 to organization is you have have to have space in which to put things; that means we need new furniture. As usual, we have almost no budget for decoration (think $1k-$2k); far too little to recruit an interior decorator. So I plagiarize.

When I was at a good friend’s house a few weeks ago, I saw she was using a leather storage bench for additional seating against the wall at her dining table, which I thought was brilliant. I repurposed a bedroom storage bench; instead of using it for shoe storage I moved it behind our dining table, and I love the instant roominess there. Now we can easily seat 5-6 people at every meal rather than three, plus store table linens, sunblock and other last-minute walk necessities.

Next on the list was my daughter’s room and the living room entryway. I bought a storage chiffonier ($600) on clearance from Gothic Cabinet Craft on Washington Street to replace the too-small and poor-quality white dresser. We now have five spacious drawers topped by a cabinet with three shelves. The clothes she is currently wearing go in the drawers, out-of-season and too-large clothing goes on the shelves, and I bought two large storage bins for the top to store outgrown clothes for a younger sibling or cousin.

I initially bought a smaller chiffonier ($400) from another Hoboken mom who was leaving the area, but it looked tiny as soon as I got it home. I moved it to my son’s much smaller room and it fits perfectly there, providing ample storage for his current and too-large clothing.

Next up on the list was the living room entry. We currently use that area as a mud room, but since it is part of the great room (living/dining/kitchen) I wanted it to less obviously utilitarian. After several false starts, I found an elegant solid wood bench ($199) on clearance from the Crate & Barrel outlet that I purchased with American Express rewards gift certificates, so the actual cost out of pocket was $100 for my handyman to pick it up from the outlet store (thanks, Andy!) I also bought a slim-profile 2-bin recycler ($45.46 including shipping after googling a 20% coupon) and white coat hook rail ($21.99) to blend in with the molding and hang the kids’ jackets.

So far I have spent $1,167.45, and I am pretty much done. I still need to declutter and reorganize my kitchen and den, but I don’t anticipate spending more than $100 for some inexpensive storage bins.

Next on my agenda; artwork and photograph collages. My walls are looking pretty bare, and I love the hanging collage picture frames another friend has all over her apartment. My family has given us some original artwork, so that’s a start. Now I need to come up with a color scheme and wall plan.