Those who spend their childhood growing up in the suburbs can relate on a number different levels. For one, we can all agree that yes, we do not fully comprehend what it is like to spend our most of our lives thus far, in a fast-paced city environment. However, we have experienced a number of situations that are universal for suburban kids, that kids who grow up in a fast-paced city environment simply have never experienced...
1. Bonfires
I am not too sure what transpires in other suburban towns, but growing up in the Northern Suburbs of New York, my friends and I often looked forward to the fall, winter, spring, and hey even the summer seasons, because it served as a time to join together a warm fire and enjoy each others company. And let us not forget, that s'mores are a very imperative aspect of a bonfire. Full disclosure: if you do not plan on making s'mores, then you are depriving you and your guest of the full bonfire experience.
2. Snow days
This aspect of growing up in the suburbs, happens to be one of my favorites. While, I do love quenching my intellectual thirst for knowledge, I also enjoy extra time spent in the comfort of my warm bed, on a snowy morning. Where are my fellow college sophomores who recollect the winter of our senior year of high school? (Winter of 2015) This winter served as such a blessing. Mother Nature delivered a snow storm to us every Monday, for about a month, which left us with much-needed, well deserved, days off from school.
3. Limited places to hangout
With the good, comes some of the bad. Unlike kids who spent their childhood, growing up in a city environment with an endless amount of places to hangout, the kids who grow up in the suburbs are rather limited to hangout options. Our weekend agendas were often limited to the local movie theater, a close friends house, playing a favorite sport in your local communities park, or local high school's football field. Prior to the age of 16, us suburban kids are not as lucky to have public transportation to take us anywhere to hangout with friends.
4. Obtaining your driver's license
THIS IS THE DAY THAT WE ALL WAIT FOR! I am absolutely certain that all of us who grew up in the suburbs can relate to counting down the days until we are able to get behind the wheel of that car. The days of having to ask your parents to and from social gatherings, taking the school bus to school, or getting picked up by your parents, those days are completely behind you, once you obtain your drivers license. And let us be candid here, how terrific did it feel the very first time you drove to school on your own. I am not sure about you but I wasted no time turning up the radio as I pulled out of my driveway and jammed out all the way to school.
5. Having the same group of friends for years and years And YEARS
Growing up in the suburbs means that in most cases, one travels from grade to grade with the same group of people. Spending the better half of my childhood in the Northern New York Suburbs, quickly taught me that you are truly unable to avoid people in your town (not that I ever wanted to) but, we all attended the same middle school and if those two years were not enough, I was lucky enough to spend another four years with them in high school. Mainly because in my small town, there was only one high school.
6. The peace and quiet
Lastly, one of the personal reasons why I find great joy in living in the suburbs is that I get to enjoy the peace and quiet. Being someone who truly enjoys and benefits a silent living space, I find great joy in unwinding in silence. Do not get me wrong, I do enjoy a trip into the city, just as much as the next person, but nothing beats the silence that the suburbs can provide.
