What’s it like living in an apartment with a baby?” is a question I am often asked. Usually it’s from someone expecting her first baby and trying to decide where to live.
带着一个小宝宝住在公寓里会是怎样的呢?”这是我常被问及的一个问题。通常,提问的都是些怀着第一胎,考虑要搬去哪里住的准妈妈。
If there is one thing I’ve learned from all these years of apartment living, it’s that I don’t need a house to have a home.
如果说这些年的公寓生活让我学到了一样东西,那就是,我不需要非得拥有一座房子才算拥有一个家。
And that’s the truth. There is something really special about having a story that begins, “When we first started out, we lived in a small apartment…”
这是事实。以“我们一开始只是住在一间小公寓里……”这样的语句开始讲述一段奋斗历程,还真有点特别。
But that’s not all there is to it of course. When all our friends were buying houses, we chose to stay in an apartment, and here is how our experience has been so far.
当然,还不止。当年我们所有的朋友都在买房子,我们却选择住在一间公寓里,以下就是迄今为止我们对住公寓的一些感受。
We lived in a one bedroom apartment when we found out we were expecting Lane. After the shock 1)wore off, one of my first thoughts was for the 2)nursery. I wanted a room that was beautiful just like in the pictures I saw.
发现怀上连恩的时候,我们本来是住在只有一间卧室的公寓里。惊喜过后定下神来,我首先想到的一件事就是得有个婴儿房。我想要一个漂亮的房间,就像我在图册上看到过的那种。
We had a small 3)side room with a4)slouchy couch and a television set. We sold the couch (and later the television) and turned that little space into a baby room with a crib and a changing area. We turned a 5)wet bar cabinet into an organized baby closet. With just a few changes our one-bedroom apartment had a nursery.
我们的公寓里有个边角空间,那里原来放着一张软沙发和一台电视机。我们卖掉了沙发(后来把电视也卖掉了),把那点空间弄成一个婴儿房,在里面放了一张婴儿床,以及一个换尿布台。我们把一个吧台橱柜改造成了一个井然有序的婴儿用品柜。不过是简单地改造了几下,我们这间只有一个卧室的公寓就拥有了一个婴儿房。
We had no option but to live with less stuff than catalogs say you need. We chose “travel size” for a lot of things. We didn’t need a baby bathtub when we could give our kid a bath in the kitchen sink. 6)Craigslist was our storage unit. Knowing we couldn’t keep baby 7)gear long-term, I bought and sold stuff as we needed it, and sometimes I even sold things for more than I paid.
没办法,我们只能轻装宅居,并没推销册子上罗列的各式必需品。很多东西我们都是挑其“轻便装”来买。既然能把宝宝放在厨房水槽里洗澡,我们就不需要婴儿澡盆。克雷格斯力斯特分类广告网站是我们的“储藏室”。明白到我们是不会长期用那些婴儿用具的,我会根据需要来买进或卖出一些东西,有时,同一件物品,我的卖出价甚至还高于买入价。
We didn’t buy many toys, but our baby didn’t mind playing with apples, pears, and sheets of paper, the occasional cardboard box, or stuff from my closet. We often reminded people, “We don’t have much space in our apartment,” and they helped us by considering that. Most toys came from grandparents, and some toys stayed at the grandparents’ house.
我们没有买很多玩具,但我们的宝宝不介意玩苹果、雪梨、纸张、偶尔出现的纸盒,或是我壁橱里的东西。我们经常跟别人提起:“我们的公寓很小”,他们考虑到这点就会给予我们帮助。大部分玩具都是祖父母给的,有些还在他们家里放着。
Our big challenge was storage: not baby storage, just regular stuff. We didn’t have a kitchen 8)pantry, so our crackers and dry goods were in the bathroom under the towels. With everything stuffed into every possible storage space in whatever way it could fit, we often left it exposed for baby exploring. It was so easy for her to pull out everything that was accessible, and I spent a lot of time putting stuff back.
我们最大的挑战在于物品储存:不是婴儿用品,而是些日常物品。我们的厨房没有食物储存柜,所以我们把饼干和其他干货放在浴室的毛巾下面。所有东西都被我们左挤右塞,能用的空间都被我们塞满了,往往没遮没盖地任由宝宝去“探索”。对她来说,把那些她够得着的东西拉出来是件轻而易举的事,而我得花费大量时间把东西放回原处。
Having a 9)patio outside space saved my 10)sanity more than once. We frequently went places, visiting parks and coffee shops. Every weekend we were glad not to have to keep up with a lawn.
幸亏有露天庭院这样的户外空间,不然我就不止一次处于精神崩溃的境地。我们经常去别处,逛公园和咖啡店。每个周末,我们都庆幸自己无需打理草坪。
Baby #2 was coming, and I briefly thought about staying. Our rent was cheap, but our apartment was lacking. We decided to pay more, and we moved to an apartment that was bigger and better with a park close by. I’m glad we decided to pay the extra money because with two kids I stay home more, and it’s nicer. I think the lack of windows in our old apartment was making me depressed.
第二个孩子快要出生了,一丝想继续住在原来的公寓里的念头闪过我的脑海。那时我们的租金便宜,只是那公寓的空间实在不够用了,于是我们决定多花一点钱,搬进了一间更大、条件更好且临近公园的公寓里。我很庆幸作了这个决定,因为有了两个孩子后,我呆在家里的时间更多了,居住环境也更好了。我觉得,因为之前住的那间老公寓没有窗,所以老是让人感觉很抑郁。
The kids share a room, and a while ago I shared a tour of how we made a place for both of them. It has its challenges (one kid is a light sleeper).
孩子们共用一个房间,而不久前,我还带别人在公寓里逛了一圈,与其分享我们是如何为两个孩子开辟出一个房间来的。这里面也有不少难题(其中一个孩子睡得不沉,很容易醒)。
Sometimes I wish I could decorate any way I want. Sometimes I wish we didn’t have carpet. Wow, I’m just thinking of all the reasons why I wish we didn’t have carpet.
有时,我希望能随心所欲地去装饰公寓。有时,我又希望我们没有铺地毯。呀,我正好在想着自己不希望铺地毯的各种理由。
We use cloth diapers, but we have our own washer and dryer. I don’t think I would use cloth if I had to go to a 11)laundromat, though I know more persistent people who have done it.
我们使用布质尿布,但我们有自己的洗衣机和干衣机。我想,如果我们要去自助洗衣店,我们就不会用布质尿布了,尽管我认识一些更有毅力的人是这么做的。
We invite small friends to play and it makes it really noisy for our downstairs neighbor.
我们邀请小朋友们来玩,但这让我们楼下的邻居感觉确实有点吵。
I like being able to always know where my kids are. I like always being within 12)earshot of them.
我喜欢随时知道孩子们在哪里。我喜欢总能听见他们的声音,跟他们相隔不远。
Sometimes we drive by our old apartment which is just five minutes away, and my four-year-old always says, “I don’t like our new home, Mommy, I like our old home better. I like my old room better. It’s little. Little kids need little rooms.” So there you have it.
有时,我们驾车经过我们以前住的老公寓——离我们的新居只有五分钟的车程——我那四岁大的孩子总说:“我不喜欢我们的新家,妈妈,我更喜欢我们以前的家。我更喜欢我的旧房间。它很小。小孩子需要小的房间。”你看,就是这样的。
I don’t know how long we’ll stay in an apartment, but it’s definitely helped make our lives better. It’s been good, and it’s been worth it.
我不知道我们还会在公寓里住多久,但这种生活经历肯定有助于使我们的生活变得越来越好。住在公寓里感觉很好,这段生活经历也很值得。
