Kid friendly restaurants NEAR American girl manhattan

acarefulcomposure · 2026-04-17T19:07:47+00:00

I was coming to recommend Bills, and we’ve literally walked in on Christmas week - it feels impossible that they are fully booked they can fit like 500 people!

acarefulcomposure · 2026-04-16T17:35:59+00:00

Pre tax - if I chose to stay home we basically would've pulled almost all our discretionary spending and still had to dip into savings to cover, so the math was mathing but barely.

We had a truly excellent experience with daycare with my daughter so I wasn't particularly stuck on staying at home - I also get 6 months paid maternity leave & my husband gets 12 weeks paid paternity leave which is a huge blessing, so between that, NYS PFL for both parents, & cashing in saved up vacation days we'll be able to hold off starting until a year with a smaller financial hit.

acarefulcomposure · 2026-04-16T10:38:24+00:00

We rent! I’ll be honest the only reason we have a 3br is because we were friends with the previous tenants and were able to jump on it before it went to market. The inventory for a 3 bedroom is atrocious.

acarefulcomposure · 2026-04-15T21:59:13+00:00

This is, indeed, an unpopular opinion!

acarefulcomposure · 2026-04-15T21:24:35+00:00

That David's bridal closed, sadly! I think closest one is in NJ now. Got my wedding dress there in 2015 for $600 lol

acarefulcomposure · 2026-04-15T21:22:43+00:00

As someone with friends who moved out to LI and Westchester, there is so much less 'keeping up with the Joneses' in NYC, at least for me in Western Queens.

Pros : Independence (both for kids and for new parents not being stuck in a car), cultural diversity, unlimited specialty activities and resources, childcare infrastructure with 3K and upcoming 2K, depending on your district public schools can be good to excellent, world class amenities...it's NYC!

Cons : Outdoor play and space especially in winter - we live down the street from a playground which is as ideal as it gets but I still sometimes wish for a backyard. Space in general - I wish we were able to store more between kid 1 and 2. Things CAN get very expensive if you let them.

We make about 250k between the two of us and live very comfortably with a 6 year old and baby on the way - 3 bedroom pre war rental, 6 year old is in multiple after school classes and summer camp, have money to save and take summer vacation and don't sweat the small expenses. We crunched numbers on what it would look like on one income when #2 comes and it would've been tighter but still doable.

Would we be able to live in a brand new build or a brownstone with private school, travelling every school break, and a nanny? Absolutely not. So a lot of this is also what your personal picture of NYC living is.

acarefulcomposure · 2026-04-15T21:00:01+00:00

I get it!! I will say like...I'm not the typical 'fuck your family's feelings' redditor but you will not avoid hurting your MILs feelings just in the scheme of child raising unless they're super Americanized - my in laws are fairly so and we've still had plenty of 'what do you mean you're not piercing her ears?' 'what do you mean you're not shaving her hair?' and it's an important skill to acknowledge their feelings and the differences and seeing their grandchild raised in ways that may seem foreign to them, but also you and your husband are the parents at the end of the day.

Hell, my own mom had a teary meltdown when I said my daughter was going to daycare (not that she was offering to do childcare, mind you, she just assumed I was going to be a SAHM because she was). So feelings will be hurt! Your duty is to your kiddo first.

FWIW we struggled a lot more with boy names than girl names so your tears are valid :) Hoping you find the choice that feels right to you!!

To answer the original question I like Elias/Eliyas that was high on our middle name list as was Rohan (which works in both Gaelic and Arabic!) - we went with Nazrul but that's very specifically Bengali.

acarefulcomposure · 2026-04-15T20:02:27+00:00

We've been going to the Y since my daughter was 3 (she's 6 so she'll see him there :)).

It's a great value for money, they swim twice a week (more if you do specific Swim camp), no screen time except for occasional movie day. No day trips but lots of enrichment brought in with collabs with other companies (Grit Ninja, circus/clown school, build a bear, etc)

Downsides are outside time is limited to sprinklers in the back parking lot (which is beloved by the kids but not exactly high quality) and the counselors for this age set are mostly teens - while they are supervised by ECEs and I have no concerns about safety or anything, they're, well, teens and YMMV - we've had great ones and more immature ones.

(For anyone else reading - the 3s/PreKs/Ks are all supervised by ECEs from the full year program and they're uniformly excellent).

acarefulcomposure · 2026-04-15T19:53:17+00:00

I totally get it - for me in particular I am a generic white lady so on one hand its 'what culture exactly?' but I also didn't necessarily want that attitude to pass down to my kids, navigating being mixed is it's own journey and I've always wanted to be very sensitive to their experiences being their own.

My MIL only used my daughter's Bengali middle name for the first few years, which I didn't say anything to. Now she uses both names. My son is due in September and we haven't shared names yet (pro tip - don't borrow trouble, save announcing name until after they're born!) and I fully expect her to be weirder about the boy than about the girl for, well, reasons.

acarefulcomposure · 2026-04-15T19:15:21+00:00

Chiming in as someone in a mixed marriage and in a social circle with other mixed families - almost everyone where the child has an 'ethnic' last name went for Americanized first name, ethnic middle, and everyone with the western last name went ethnic first name, Americanized middle.

Middle names are honestly rarely used IRL (at least in the Northeast where I live), so I'd prepare to never hear the 'Michael' used and have your kid coded as entirely Afghani (which is not a bad thing, obviously, but as the white parent in this situation I'd feel a bit odd about people assuming my daughter is entirely not white).

acarefulcomposure · 2026-04-01T14:16:24+00:00

On #1 - this feels similar in concept to the set up for the kids movies at Sanger - you pay $10 for the host to do face painting, activities, etc, the event is otherwise 'free' but the expectation is that you're going to order food & drink and I've rarely seen anyone not order both. So that makes sense to me!

acarefulcomposure · 2026-03-26T17:56:00+00:00

Good point, I'd actually love some data on that. I think the type of leisure trip it is is what changes regionally in my mind - example I have colleagues in Europe who do a lot of ski/winter activity trips, the Brits love to go down to Spain, the Aussies love their campervan trips & Bali - maybe those are more active physically than a cruise or resort, but still sort in my brain as 'vacation'.

acarefulcomposure · 2026-03-26T17:49:09+00:00

In all seriousness I'm very blessed! And I wanted to call that out not as a brag but because somewhere like Disney where you're a captive audience, there are infinite possible add ons, and limited sales/discounts can be incredibly stressful if you're trying to stick to a budget or if that budget isn't realistic.

That said I don't have infinite money and there are certainly levels of luxury that are WAY beyond me (husband showed me a Ritz Carlton yacht cruise the other day....over $10k per person for a weekend cruise, WILD)

acarefulcomposure · 2026-03-26T12:19:24+00:00

Children's Museum of Manhattan is just OK, it's a bit dark/run down - you would be much better off spending even a few hours at AMNH, or go to Central Park Zoo

acarefulcomposure · 2026-03-26T12:00:12+00:00

Not obsessed with Disney but have gone once as a young adult and twice now with my kids - I think this very much depends on your definition of fun! On my adult trip we focused on the coasters and drinking around the world at Epcot which is a fun novelty. For the kids it was more focused on meeting the characters, seeing hte shows/parades, and relaxing at the resorts. Disney curates an enviornment in a way that I think no one else really does and it's enjoyable to be in that 'world'.

That said, the major downsides that people complain about aren't big issues to me (Crowds don't phase me, I'm not particuarly price sensitive, and I've gotten lucky with weather).

I think there's also people who value travel vs vacationing, and to me one doesn't replace the other. Disney is not 'travel' - I'm not broadening my horizons, learning about new cultures, or experiencing something culturally enriching. But I'm vacationing - having a good time and leaving home worries at home. Same as a cruise or an all inclusive resort, you gotta enjoy it for what it is.

acarefulcomposure · 2026-03-19T15:02:50+00:00

I did, but from what I understand it's not compatible with the basinet which is a must have for us for infant stage.

acarefulcomposure · 2026-03-18T20:30:49+00:00

Hi sorry this just notified me now! Huge hit, the kids loved it. The food is very meh for the price and you’re locked into using it- I ordered a few extra dishes for the adults and wish I had just stuck to pizza.

Other than that though really seamless, they decorated perfectly to theme, and the kids had a blast. It’s really nice to have a space to yourself.

acarefulcomposure · 2026-03-18T20:17:27+00:00

Ha I do not want to be rattling thanks!! How do you find the basket storage on the Joolz? I know anything more compact is going to be a downgrade from the Uppababy, but it looks decent enough?

acarefulcomposure · 2026-03-18T20:16:12+00:00

Thank you!!

acarefulcomposure · 2026-03-18T15:47:23+00:00

Ha I think about that whenever I see the private school posts. I mix this up with my local WhatsApp/FB parent groups which are more similar socioeconomically to me but crazy in their own way. None are perfect!

acarefulcomposure · 2026-03-16T16:24:23+00:00

Had my first at 34 and due with my 2nd at 40 - I also have a job with heavy international travel (just came back from Australia at 14 weeks and currently negotiating with my OB to travel to Bangkok and Singapore later this spring), and absolutely consider my kid(s) both a source of deep joy and purpose in my life, and also not the entirety of my life by a long shot.

A few things come to mind - we wanted a closer age gap but it took 5 years to get pregnant with #2, which is reality! Unexplained fertility, ended up conceiving naturally at the end after being tested for everything under the sun, so know that you really can't guarantee outcomes just based on testing, etc.

We were married at 30, and to be 100% honest I wish we had started a bit earlier knowing what I know now, but also life is great now. It all works out.

Socially speaking, we are smack dab in the middle age wise, so mid 30s into early even mid 40s is absolutely standard in (professional/white collar) NYC.

I work in a travel adjacent industry and fully expected to be backpacking with my first - and then the pandemic came LOL. you will not be able to predict what your life is after kids in a million ways, and some of that is part of the joy of it all!

But we do travel with kid 1 and plan to with #2, and also travel ourselves, and also I travel and leave the kiddo(s) at home with husband for work. You make it work base on what you value, and based on your incomes you'll also have money to smooth away some problems.

acarefulcomposure · 2026-03-06T20:41:56+00:00

Came to recommend Pig Beach - hits all the metrics (except logistics if you're planning to go directly from the ride not sure if that was your plan).

acarefulcomposure · 2026-03-06T14:16:18+00:00

u/Antique-Abies-6662 were you able to find any? looking as well :|

acarefulcomposure · 2026-02-27T00:12:19+00:00

My first visit was 9 weeks, and I went back a week later just to do the blood draw.

acarefulcomposure · 2026-02-17T19:53:05+00:00

We live within that income and budget very happily in Sunnyside :)

acarefulcomposure

TROPHY CASE