On Monday We Played Hooky Around New York

A breakdown of a special family day centered around our six-month-old.

Quilted jacket | pants | shoes a souvenir from Portugal, similar here.

It’s 9:38pm on a Monday as I type this, and honestly, I should’ve been asleep an hour ago (parent life is so glamorous, no?). Instead, I’m wide awake, ruminating over a day well spent — the kind of day that makes me realize they aren’t joking when they say the early years fly by.

Will got back Sunday night after a week-long work trip, and while catching up, we decided to play hooky on Monday to spend the entire day with C. Both of us are running on fumes —him from an intense film schedule nonstop, me from a solo week with C.

First order of business was sleeping in as long as possible —which, naturally, meant 6am when the Little Boss decided the day had officially begun. Copy that.

Once the whole gang was awake, we made pancakes (a weekend tradition) and brewed a much-needed pot of tea. The morning centered around one question: “What would Caroline like to do today?” (Translation: What would we enjoy that Caroline probably won’t remember but we will?).

After tooling around with a few options, we decided that a trip to the Central Park Zoo was in order. After a necessary pit stop for coffee (Caroline insisted, she’s considerate like that), we moseyed over through Central Park in the blissful sunshine.

It was 60 degrees, so the park was lively! It was warm enough for a handful of bold New Yorkers to casually abandon their jackets in a rebellious salute to winter.

Spring teased from every angle—trees bursting with buds, bright gold Forsythia in full bloom — March 20th (the first day of spring) will arrive in spectacular fashion.

C took a 20-minute power nap and then spent the rest of the walk wide-eyed, soaking in every stroller, jogger, and dog passing by.

At the zoo, we made our first stop at the bird atrium, which is striking —and apparently, a tropical rainforest simulation that doubles as a sauna. Caroline was mildly fascinated by the exotic birds but it was too warm for comfort so we quickly moved along.

We strolled leisurely past the snow leopard, peeked in on the sleepy red panda, and admired the three brown bears. The sea lions were the headliners of Caroline’s day, capturing her full attention.

Central Park Zoo is pretty compact, you can explore it in its entirety in two hours. When we had our fill, we wandered over to Lenwich (a local sandwich chain we really like), before embarking on a leisurely two-mile stroll home.

Sunny and warm, the whole way back I kept (mentally) pinching myself—this was exactly the kind of day we dreamed of when we imagined life as parents in the city. What a day! What a place!

Cheers!

Antonina