I Heart My Hometown

Posted January 19, 2010

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Posted Tuesday January 19, 2010 by Jackie Morgan MacDougall

I grew up in the suburbs. It was a place where public schools ruled and activities like Little League and Pop Warner football filled the weekends. My parents were involved with anything and everything that involved kids; school committee, parks and recreation commission and youth classes at church. It was a time before yuppies and soccer moms and getting your kids into college before they even start kindergarten.

A couple of decades later, I stood in the kitchen of my Los Angeles home, listening to cars whiz by and late night Karaoke happening outside our front door, not more than 50 yards away. With one baby boy just turning a year and another growing rapidly inside me, I began to panic that we were not in the right place to raise our family.

Two months later, we were unpacking boxes in Santa Clarita... otherwise known as the 'burbs.

It's not easy to start over. It was no longer about finding the closest Trader Joe's or a dry cleaner that wouldn't give my pants back with uneven hems. We now had preschools, playdates and pediatricians to find. We had to figure out how it would work with my husband commuting two hours a day and who could cover when it all got the best of us and we needed a date night.

Those first months were lonely. In fact, it took a few years to figure out how things are run in our community. From local politics to education, it was like a crash course in a culture that's existed for generations. But as my first child entered kindergarten, I knew it was time to get involved, even creating a site for others like me who wanted to get involved with the community, but struggled with finding time and energy after a day filled with homework, laundry, meetings, cooking meals, and playing chauffeur.

It was a bit odd to go from living in a city known around the world to suddenly being "that city that Six Flags is in." And while I do love a rollercoaster as much as the next girl, it's not the tourist attractions that make me proud to live here but all the planning that went into the city before it expanded to us transplants. Walking paseos wind around every neighborhood, foot bridges keep kids safe when crossing the street. And we even have a man-made -- although tiny -- lake that the kids can feed ducks and we can take family walks. It's how families are valued that truly makes my hometown stand out among others.

Now life is filled with things like Concerts in the Park, T-Ball, local fairs and PTA meetings. That's right, I am officially back in the 'burbs - and loving it. My Saturday mornings are filled with the sound of soccer being played at the field behind my house. And tonight, I'm even attending my first school board meeting. Now if that's not a kick in the grown up pants! This is my home town. This is where my husband and I will raise our three small kids, getting involved wherever we can, just like my parents did.

The city life I loved for a decade is now a place I visit on a rare weekend. And, strangely enough, I'm OK with that.

Jackie Morgan MacDougall, on the never-ending quest for balance, enjoys life in Los Angeles with her husband, Jeff, and their three small kids. Read more of her take on parenting, kids and everything else on The Silver Whining.

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