Public transportation is a great way to get around the city- unless you have kids.
If you have kids taking the train or bus is the equivalent of getting all your teeth pulled with no Novocaine while trying to calm down a screaming child- yeah it's that bad.
I say this because I have attempted this several times and each time it got progressively worse, so much so that now just the word train or bus causes me to convulse.
The problem is that the MTA secretly hates moms- that's the only explanation that makes sense, otherwise why do they make it so difficult?
Getting on the bus with a kid is like a juggling act: you MUST close your stroller which means taking out the baby, folding it with one hand, then getting onto he bus with baby, stroller and baby bag while navigating through all the people who act like your not trying to get onto the bus.
Oh, and if your going shopping forget about buying anything because you won't be able to get it back on the bus with you- unless you buy another hand to hold it, so you basically went through all that hassle to window shop.
The trains are no better. You don't have to fold your stroller up, but since access to the train means navigating flights of stairs, so good luck with that.
I took the train 3 times and only ONCE on my way up a set of stairs did someone offer to grab the other end and help (of course it was a woman).
So of course you have to take the baby out of the stroller and walk down those steep and scary stairs with your baby, bag and stroller- which makes the trains even worse.
Although I did count it as a form of exercise since my heart was going about a million miles as visions of me and my 6 month old toppling over danced in my head- oooh what fun!
Oh and if you have more than one kid? I hope you can walk wherever you need to go or you may never shop again.
On the bright-side Black Friday is just days away- so you might want to put a car on your wishlist.
If you have kids taking the train or bus is the equivalent of getting all your teeth pulled with no Novocaine while trying to calm down a screaming child- yeah it's that bad.
I say this because I have attempted this several times and each time it got progressively worse, so much so that now just the word train or bus causes me to convulse.
The problem is that the MTA secretly hates moms- that's the only explanation that makes sense, otherwise why do they make it so difficult?
Getting on the bus with a kid is like a juggling act: you MUST close your stroller which means taking out the baby, folding it with one hand, then getting onto he bus with baby, stroller and baby bag while navigating through all the people who act like your not trying to get onto the bus.
Oh, and if your going shopping forget about buying anything because you won't be able to get it back on the bus with you- unless you buy another hand to hold it, so you basically went through all that hassle to window shop.
The trains are no better. You don't have to fold your stroller up, but since access to the train means navigating flights of stairs, so good luck with that.
I took the train 3 times and only ONCE on my way up a set of stairs did someone offer to grab the other end and help (of course it was a woman).
So of course you have to take the baby out of the stroller and walk down those steep and scary stairs with your baby, bag and stroller- which makes the trains even worse.
Although I did count it as a form of exercise since my heart was going about a million miles as visions of me and my 6 month old toppling over danced in my head- oooh what fun!
Oh and if you have more than one kid? I hope you can walk wherever you need to go or you may never shop again.
On the bright-side Black Friday is just days away- so you might want to put a car on your wishlist.