The New Station Wagon?

Whenever someone mentions "suburban family", my mind still conjures an image of a mother driving a station wagon full of kids.

At least, that was the sort of suburban family I saw--and my Brooklyn family became--when we moved to New Jersey right about the time I was hitting puberty (my first).  

These days, it seems that suburban families don't have as many kids.  (Actually, that's the case for families in most places in the US.)  Paradoxically, as family size has shrunk, motor vehicles have gotten larger:  Families that used to shuttle between school, the mall, kids' practices and home in station wagons are now getting around in SUVs.

Well, maybe not all of them.  

You can see more families like them on the Madsen Bike blog.  

I'm told those kids eat healthy snacks:

Note:  This is not an endorsement of Madsen bikes, as I know almost nothing about them.  I like the idea behind them, though!

The Grass Is Greener...

Believe it or not, I've actually mowed lawns.  For those few years I lived in New Jersey, my brothers, parents and I took turns cutting the grass around the house. And, I would sometimes make some money by leaving neighbors' and strangers' lawns shorn.

Having been a city girl for most of the rest of my life, I haven't cut very many lawns since those days in the Garden State.  But, if I ever have to leave the Big Apple (or urban life altogether), I now know what I need to make the transition easier: