Family Friendly Vegas Blog
When D and I moved to Las Vegas over seven years ago, we didn’t anticipate actually raising children here. I never thought I’d become a Vegas blog, either. I came up with many reasons why Vegas wasn’t family friendly enough, many of which I’m sure you are thinking too. But, after Alina was born, I found out how wrong I was. Compared to our home state of California, Vegas affords us a better quality of life. I can stay home with my babies. We can afford a home of our own. Private school isn’t completely off the table. In general, the lower cost of living opens doors that would otherwise be shut. But also, Las Vegas provides us with an abundance of child and family friendly experiences too, everything from apple picking to trips to the children museum. With the glare of the glitz and such, family friendly Vegas may be hard to find. You just have to willing to look.
In Las Vegas, we’ve also met friends who share in our love for adventure and values in living a healthy and positive life. But none more special to our hearts than our relationship with our precious Baby B and his mom, Cindy.
Making Lifelong Friends in Vegas
In a time where I most needed the friendship of a fellow mom, I met Cindy at an event for a mom’s group. This old blog post about keeping it together reminds me of how much I yearned for the connection that close friendship brings. In my friendship with Cindy, I found all I needed and more. Why more? Because she brought with her this beautiful little boy that stole, not just my heart, but Alina’s as well.
For the better part of two years of these babies’ lives, we have spent every day together. Our families celebrated holidays together. We have gone through medical emergencies together. We bought each other lunch when the other had nothing till pay day, just so that we could extend our play time that much longer. I loved chronicling their friendship grow right here, on this Vegas blog. Cindy loves my kids as much as I love her boy. And quite simply, Alina would not be the little girl she is today without having the very close bond of her first best friend, Boaz. He is the most patient and forgiving little boy; he has taught Alina how to be kind, to share. And that happened here, in Las Vegas. If nothing else, Vegas has given my child the gift of friendship. And for that, I am forever grateful.
Transient Las Vegas
The week after returning from my first conference experience, I not only lost my breast milk, but we also said good bye to our best Vegas friends. It was a big week for this Vegas blog. With tears streaming down both of our faces, I hugged my dear friend for the last time before their move back East to be closer to family. I wish them the best and know this move is the right choice for their family, but I ache in knowing that Alina won’t spend her days next to the little boy she has come to love so dearly. Undoubtedly, she will ask for him often. I will have to explain what it means to move far away. Alina is inquisitive; she asks a ton of questions that she won’t let you ignore. So although I have many close friends who live in other states, and I know that good-bye-for-now doesn’t have to mean good-bye-forever, at the tender age of two and a half, Alina has lost the friendship that has consumed her life on a day to day basis.
Unfortunately, this scenario is common in the transient valley of Vegas. My younger siblings moved to Vegas in the late 1990′s, and I’ve seen it happen to them countless times. People move in for work, maybe like us, for a more affordable quality of life, and then move out a few years later. In truth, I can’t say for certain we will be here forever either. The urge to be near family and the familiarity of my youth is great. Not to mention, MY lifelong friends that I made decades ago, nurtured through years of experiences and will own for a lifetime, are all back in Cali. Many of those friends are still there, raising their kids together, as second {some third} generations of friendship. It makes me wonder: will Alina make lifelong friends?
Is it possible for kids to make lifelong friendships in transient Las Vegas?
For the foreseeable future, Vegas is our home. Our kids are young, not even school age, and we are happy here. But the experience of having Alina’s first best friend move away brought me pause as to whether its transient nature is best for the creation of long term relationships. And for Daddy D and I, who both have extraordinary relationships with our closest allies, learning to develop bonds and a network of support {outside of ones family} is a value we hold dear to our hearts. Our closest friends are like family to us, but building those relationship takes love, consistency and time spent together. Regardless, the bond created with this little boy and his momma will forever live in our hearts.
Sweet, sweet Boaz,
I hope you remember us and look back at our adventures through this Vegas blog! I hope that all our days spent adventuring through Vegas will be told to you as stories of friendship and love. You will always be Alina’s first best friend, one that has shown her the value of consistent love and tenderness. Your Momma and Abba are doing a beautiful job in raising a kind and gentle young man. I am so proud to have known you and watch you grow. And for as saddened that I am by your move, I am excited for you to build an even closer bond with your Grandma and new friends that await you. I hope you know that you will always have a home here in Vegas, or wherever we may be. I am hopeful that we will come visit you, so that our families can continue to grow in friendship. Our family loves you very much!
Miss you already,
Daddy D, Nessa, Baby {because you hadn’t yet figured out how to say Sebastian} and your best friend Alina
I love this post for so many reasons. I too was uprooted when just transitioning to womanhood and needed my older sister. Instead we moved up north and was thankful that my now husband followed. It grew us closer but I always wonder about the “what if”. What if my sister had more time together and create the bond we needed. We are very different beings now and it always pains me.
This new Vegas is a different bread. Spending tons of weekends here growing up I can see its difference from just 15 years ago. I wonder too will our kids be able to make that connection with kids they can relate to and continue to live here. The one thing regardless of where you live that I know is bringing them to an environment they love, I.e., church, soccer, ballet….wherever! They are bound to find others with that same passion.
That’s a great point, Lala! Communities aren’t just found geographically.