2 1/2 Blocks in 2 1/2 Years
September 4, 2014 8:41 PM   Subscribe

"Since the middle of Kindergarden, I have been taking pictures of my daughter on her short walk to school in NYC. 1,380 photos later, we finally made it."

(via Jezebel)
posted by Etrigan (38 comments total) 20 users marked this as a favorite
 
When my daughter was born, I had a great idea! I'd take a picture of her every day in the same spot in the livingroom. The first few weeks worked perfectly. Then it turned out the beautiful creature had volition. After that it was pretty much, do your thing baby and occasionally I'll be around with a camera.

With that said, this is adorable.
posted by gwint at 8:50 PM on September 4, 2014


Out-freaking-standing! What a cute little girl with some awesome parents. The post made my day!
posted by InsertNiftyNameHere at 8:53 PM on September 4, 2014


she has some great outfits.
posted by sweetkid at 8:55 PM on September 4, 2014 [2 favorites]


Yes, this is pretty flawlessly executed. Am feeling envyhate.
posted by sandettie light vessel automatic at 9:00 PM on September 4, 2014 [1 favorite]


she has some great outfits.

Yeah. I was kinda weirded out by the largess of her wardrobe.
posted by uraniumwilly at 9:16 PM on September 4, 2014 [1 favorite]


I can't even explain how much I love this! Charming is so many ways. Made my evening. Thanks so much.
posted by cccorlew at 9:28 PM on September 4, 2014


Yeah, that was amazingly well done. And she is very well dressed. My five year old has a dresser full of ultra hip clothes and he insists on wearing his Russell Wilson jersey and sweat pants ever damn day, just because that's what all of his friends are wearing. Ok, maybe I didn't need to buy a second jersey but the one really gets pretty nasty by Friday.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 9:38 PM on September 4, 2014 [2 favorites]


Yes, this is pretty flawlessly executed

As a parent of two girls myself, as well as a photographer, I love this. Super fun.

I don't think it's 'flawless' as I'm really not a fan of the kids shots from adult height, looking down. I can understand that this may have been done for consistency's sake (or convenience, or both) but photos of children are immeasurably better if you try to get down to their level.
posted by jimmythefish at 9:44 PM on September 4, 2014 [1 favorite]


That's really fun to watch. She looks like a really nice kid--with great parents.
posted by Anitanola at 9:49 PM on September 4, 2014 [1 favorite]


This clip made me sad. It's cute, yes, but she's still a child that for the past two years has had to be escorted to school for a 2½ block trip that she certainly knew by heart... and that's so normal I doubt many of you even noticed that's a thing.

My own kids just started first grade a few weeks back; their journey to school is just about as long, and admittedly Helsinki is not the same as NYC, but after the first week they've walked there and back by themselves—it'd be strange for them not to do so.

Why don't you Americans let your kids grow up anymore? Why don't they get to experience the world by themselves at least a little bit, occasionally? Actually, never mind, I'm not really asking for answers, just being sad about it all.
posted by eemeli at 11:08 PM on September 4, 2014 [13 favorites]


We had a kindergartener living with us for about half the school-year last year. This little girl reminded me of her. So this is bittersweet for me, but I really enjoyed it.

Pro tip: Be very cautious about getting attached to your brother's girlfriends kids.
posted by ob1quixote at 11:32 PM on September 4, 2014 [2 favorites]


As a parent and photographer I see the same face I see on my own kid sometimes. The "Sigh, why do you have to take pictures all the time, why can't we just walk together for once" That makes me sad when I think about it, that disconnection. This parent have spent all these walks focusing on his/her "great project", taking the photos, probably stopping to redo one or two, thinking about whether the result could be monetized on Youtube or not. Instead they could have just walked to school.

And of course I realize that this doesn't mean that they have a bad relation or that the kid doesn't enjoy this. It's more a reflection of my own behavior, that I need to listen to my son when he says "Stop that, I want to connect with you without the camera between us".
posted by mnsc at 11:36 PM on September 4, 2014 [1 favorite]


That is such a NYC kid.
posted by bottlebrushtree at 12:01 AM on September 5, 2014


Why don't they get to experience the world by themselves at least a little bit, occasionally? Actually, never mind, I'm not really asking for answers, just being sad about it all.

Not an answer but noteworthy: the next two posts are about childhood amnesia and pedophilia.
posted by hal9k at 1:03 AM on September 5, 2014


So...upper west side right? Looks like a public school though. Anyway. Nice boots! Pretty sure my kid will have about 1/3 the outfits but I guess we'll see about that.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 1:53 AM on September 5, 2014


You guys, children's consignment shops can make all your fancily dressed kid dreams come true! My daughter has a Lily Pulitzer polo dress complete with popped collar that cost me $5.
posted by Pardon Our Dust at 2:32 AM on September 5, 2014 [3 favorites]


Why don't you people let your kids grow up any more?
I left mine in the woods behind our house when she was three and she's so precociously independent.
(If the the feral creature I watch stealing food from our bins is indeed my daughter.)
posted by fullerine at 2:46 AM on September 5, 2014 [13 favorites]


I'm not really asking for answers, just being sad about it all.

Seriously? This got turned into Why America Sucks? Thanks, Britta.
posted by Etrigan at 3:45 AM on September 5, 2014 [8 favorites]


There are a lot of things going on on NYC streets. Drivers aren't always consistently great at pedestrians. There are LOTS of people. It's also nice to hang out with your kid. I suppose there are all sorts of ways to criticize parenting, but walking your 5-year-old to school in Manhattan seems like a pretty unassailable behavior.
posted by ChuraChura at 3:59 AM on September 5, 2014 [1 favorite]


ChuraChura: "Drivers aren't always consistently great at pedestrians. "

I liked how she looked both ways when crossing the street. There's at least one moment the first time she crosses the street that her eyes flick back and forth.
posted by chavenet at 4:21 AM on September 5, 2014


I am trying to take 1 picture of my tiny child every sunday with a knitted tiger for scale (the tiger is called scale tiger) because it is difficult to remember just how small tiny babies are.

"This parent have spent all these walks focusing on his/her "great project", taking the photos, probably stopping to redo one or two, thinking about whether the result could be monetized on Youtube or not. Instead they could have just walked to school."

I think that's a bit unfair. It's nice to have a project, it's nice to involve your child in your projects.
I really REALLY doubt that his thought was "how can I monetize this on youtube" (ESPECIALLY since it's advertless on vimeo")
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 4:39 AM on September 5, 2014 [1 favorite]


You guys, children's consignment shops can make all your fancily dressed kid dreams come true!

This! My kids always had the best clothes at that age, and it was all bought for a few bucks per outfit from a consignment store. Then they both grew up into teenagers that only wear jeans and t-shirts, which I'm fine with. But I think my wife feels like she missed out on having a fashion conscious teenage daughter to shop for / with.

We also delivered out youngest to college 1000 miles from home a few weeks ago - so this makes me a little sad.
posted by COD at 5:33 AM on September 5, 2014 [1 favorite]


I am trying to take 1 picture of my tiny child every sunday with a knitted tiger for scale (the tiger is called scale tiger) because it is difficult to remember just how small tiny babies are.

I did this for my son's first year (sans tiger) and included holidays. It turned out really well. Bonus was I had a very lovely album to present as a gift to each set of grandparents at Christmas.

The video was lovely and clearly a labor of love. Sometimes you see a look, or experience a moment and you want something tangible to remember it. The only feeling I got was of parents cherishing and loving their child.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 5:53 AM on September 5, 2014


How cool! I admire folks who can put together a long term project like this.
posted by MrGuilt at 5:57 AM on September 5, 2014 [1 favorite]


The video is now private. :(
posted by kimberussell at 6:49 AM on September 5, 2014


The video is now private. :(

Which, no wonder, given the tenor of some of the comments here.
posted by FreezBoy at 6:52 AM on September 5, 2014


Bummer.

Permission Denied
Sorry, there is no video here.
Either it was deleted or it never existed in the first place. Such are the mysteries of the Internet.

posted by xtian at 7:06 AM on September 5, 2014


Why don't you Americans let your kids grow up anymore?

This woman was arrested for letting her 9 year old play alone at a park.

These parents were not, after they let their 9 year old play with an UZI.

America is a land of contrasts.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 7:13 AM on September 5, 2014 [13 favorites]


Eemeli, have you considered that this morning walk between parent and child might be the only time they get to spend a large chunk of time together during the week due to said parent's work schedule? I wouldn't let my kid walk alone to school either if it was the perfect opportunity to have 1:1 time with them.
posted by Hermione Granger at 7:53 AM on September 5, 2014 [6 favorites]


"and that's so normal I doubt many of you even noticed that's a thing."

Yeah, those of us who have to put on ACTUAL PANTS first thing in the morning, get the smaller kids dressed, and herd everyone along the two-block walk to kindergarten because people Don't Let Their Kids Walk To School Alone Here definitely noticed it. I would prefer my child walk alone (especially in late August when the sun is really high and hot at 3:30 and it's 95 degrees and the humidity is set at "SAUNA"), but I would also prefer not to be arrested for child neglect.

I let my kids run ahead to predetermined landmarks (a mid-block tree, the end of the block, a sign up ahead) and then they wait for me to catch up, which they do very nicely. Twice already they've had adults stop them and ask "where's your mommy?" and if everything was okay because I was HALF A BLOCK AWAY, one of whom waited with my children until I got the half-block caught up with them and asked ME if something was wrong or he should call someone, and then scolded me for letting them run ahead. We've been at this for three weeks. I've seen countless adults (walkers, drivers, etc.) slow down and scout the area to see if my kids are adult-accompanied. Which, on the one hand, I'm glad that adults are being eagle-eyed for kids in trouble. But on the other hand, my kid's in a school uniform and it's school start/end time, it's NOT SO ODD that he might be walking alone.

Quiet residential neighborhood, low traffic, school is TWO BLOCKS with one street-crossing.

Anyway. My kids and I are keeping a nature journal of things we notice on our two-block walks, it keeps the bitter complaining to a minimum, so I think this is a fun project.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 8:02 AM on September 5, 2014 [6 favorites]


one of whom waited with my children until I got the half-block caught up with them and asked ME if something was wrong or he should call someone, and then scolded me for letting them run ahead.

Holy crap. I'm so sorry.

If you haven't told any of them off, you're a better person than I am. Because I would have Lost My Shit at that person.
posted by anastasiav at 9:25 AM on September 5, 2014 [1 favorite]


anyone have a mirror?
posted by rebent at 10:34 AM on September 5, 2014


This clip made me sad. It's cute, yes, but she's still a child that for the past two years has had to be escorted to school for a 2½ block trip that she certainly knew by heart...

My first thought was "How great she can walk with her parents, and not have to spend a lot of time in a car or school bus."

"Sigh, why do you have to take pictures all the time, why can't we just walk together for once" That makes me sad when I think about it, that disconnection."

1,380 photos in 2.5 years is about 550/year – that's maybe 3 pictures a day over an average school year. To interrupt a 2.5-block walk to spend 3x1/60 of a second shooting photos doesn't seem like that much of a disconnect to me.

It wasn't flawless, but that video was very well done. I'm glad I got to see it before it disappeared.
posted by LeLiLo at 10:52 AM on September 5, 2014 [1 favorite]


1,380 photos in 2.5 years is about 550/year – that's maybe 3 pictures a day over an average school year. To interrupt a 2.5-block walk to spend 3x1/60 of a second shooting photos doesn't seem like that much of a disconnect to me.

Children don't do math, they feel. I said I recognized the look, a sadness in the eyes, in some of the photos flashing past. And yes, I might be projecting my own issues, and yes the kid in the video seemed happy most of the time so I hope that the disconnect is something I made up.
posted by mnsc at 11:30 AM on September 5, 2014


"If you haven't told any of them off,"

Not yet ... I was a bit pointed in my, "Thank you, we're fine" to the scolding guy, partly because I don't like to go off in front of my kids, but also because I have mixed feelings. We live in a high-poverty city with a crime problem, but in a traditional, urban neighborhood that's a wonderful, safe place to raise families and have children -- I feel perfectly safe walking my neighborhood alone at night -- that is something of an oasis of stable, mixed-class housing that has survived 50 years of decline in residential neighborhoods on three sides. And a huge part of that is the people who live here who remain actively invested in making it a neighborhood. Teenage delinquents, vandals, door-to-door scammers, etc., all get scared off pretty quickly because my neighbors notice and take action. I don't know all my neighbors the way we knew them when I was growing up, but I at least know them by sight, I know their cars, I know their dogs and their kids, and vice versa. (All the time you'll be chatting with a neighbor and say, "My mom was in last weekend," and they'll be like, "Oh, I thought that was your mom's car!") So part of what makes this a great place to live is adults who take the time to be concerned about a small child with no visible adult -- and if my kids HAD run off, I know I'd be damn glad that people take the time to stop them and ask if they're okay. On the flip side, my kindergartener can't walk two blocks by himself, which is silly.

I know that when I see a little kid run by on their own, I do always glance to be sure there's a parent or older child nearby (and I've been guilty of craning my neck around at the playground when I wasn't sure). I don't know if that's good or bad, because on the one hand I'm contributing to the problem, but on the other hand it'd be pretty unusual to see a little kid alone and maybe indicative of a problem. I don't think I've ever worried about it when it was a kid in school uniform, though ... like it's pretty obvious where they're coming and going. (Unless they are crying or the weather is shocking. Sometimes when it's very snowy I sit in my front window and watch to make sure they all get down my block without falling on the ice because ... I don't know why, I guess just in case one of them broke an arm or something? On reflection this seems silly.)
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 12:21 PM on September 5, 2014


On reflection this seems silly.)
I'm silly too then.
posted by fullerine at 1:21 PM on September 5, 2014


I grew up in a time when all parents were my parents, and vice versa. They were more interested in making sure we didn't misbehave, not the other way around.
posted by halfbuckaroo at 5:21 PM on September 5, 2014


10:1 odds the video was pulled because of the song used and not due to comments. I doubt the author got rights to the music, but the video was cute and I was glad I got to see it before it was pulled. And before I walked my 5 year old to his bus stop 1 block away. (Why? Because he likes to walk to the bus stop with me. I'm enjoying it while I can. Some day he won't want me anywhere near him when on his way to school.)
posted by caution live frogs at 7:58 PM on September 5, 2014


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