My front yard

Our first summer here was spent largely touring the city when we weren't doing home renos. Last summer, we attempted to play in the backyard with the kids but found it lacking in toys, other children, and all around fun, so we opted to go to the park—a lot. This summer, we have discovered our front yard and the sidewalk just beyond it.

While we normally wouldn't have access to the back or front yards because we live on the second floor of a triplex (normally, their use is reserved for first-floor folks), our downstairs neighbours are very generous and have always welcomed our presence, especially our children's presence, in the yards. So we bring out whatever outdoor activities Mai and Sol have decided they want: balls, bubbles, sidewalk chalk, bikes, scooters... This involves much less energy than going to the park every evening. And we have experienced a pleasant surprise: other children come by to play.

Tsione is exuberant and chatty and Nadine is bright and beautiful; both are eight years old. They were the first to drop by and get acquainted with our girls. Nadine's older sister, Justine (who is 11) sometimes comes by when she hasn't anything else to do. Little Daniella, a wiry seven-year-old, shows up most days, too. Jane, a friend of Maïa's from daycare who lives across the street drags her kind parents to our place to join in the fun. Even Paullene, who is also from Maïa's daycare and lived across the street until about a month ago, has been known to drop by, with her poor dad, John, who is exasperated and is at a loss for what to do with such an energetic 5-year-old until his wife comes home at 10 pm from her long shift at the restaurant; John drives the few kilometers from their new home for informal playdates.

And the kids use our chalk and toys, and they play with our girls. Tsione likes to play Rapunzel, Rapunzel, Let Down Your Hair. Nadine often brings by her long-suffering hamster and has him "dance" for Solanne, mostly because Sol finds it hysterically funny. They all take turns on the scooters, as well as on the various bikes, skateboards, rollerblades, and other such toys the other kids bring along.

Our place is the natural gathering since our kids have to stay close to us, and also because ours is the only patch of grass on the block that isn't fenced in and doesn't mind a little beating up. And our reward for sharing our toys and space with these kids? We have the coolest front walk on the whole street.