Parenting in Lowertown

By Laura Hashimoto

My husband and I are pretty new to parenting. My daughter is just six months old, so when I thought about offering my perspective on raising a kid in Lowertown, I have to admit I felt somewhat underqualified. Sure, some days, when we stick to the routine and I manage to venture out into the cold with my bundle of joy, I feel like Super Mom. Most days I feel tired – like I didn’t stop all day and somehow still managed to accomplish nothing at all. In the end, I think you have to accept that motherhood is just like that sometimes, so, under-qualified or not, here are a few thoughts.

First, you don’t have to be a longtime resident of Lowertown to appreciate the fact that it’s steeped in history and culture. Sometimes, when I’m struggling to get our stroller out the front door for our lunchtime walk, I’ll time it just right so I can hear the bells at Notre Dame Cathedral down the street. I’ve lived here for the better part of five years, but that sound always gives me pause. It makes me feel like I’m connected to the heart of the city. Suffice to say, there are worse ways to be greeted when leaving your front door.

When we finally do manage to get out the door on these daily walks, more often than not my daughter and I are headed to the National Gallery. It’s quiet, it’s warm, and when your whole day is a parade of diapers and picture books, there’s nothing like escaping to the world of adults to bring you back from the brink. And maybe it’s silly to feel this way, but I also think it’s good for my daughter. Yes, she’s napping for much of our tour of the gallery, but I have to think she’s soaking in the culture, and – like baby Mozart – it’ll all pay off for her somehow, someway. If nothing else, she seems to love the view from underneath the reflecting pool.

If the weather is nice, and it is sometimes nice these days, instead of turning right toward the gallery, I’ll turn left instead, venturing across King Edward (yes, we miss the speed cameras) to make our way to Bordeleau Park. There’s an off-leash dog park, so our lab gets a chance to stretch his legs, and we get to enjoy our walk along the Rideau River. Both my daughter and the dog love the geese, so more often than not, there’s something for everyone.

When the weekend rolls around, my husband and I try to make a point of getting out to Brigid’s Well. There’s a group of first-time parents that meet there every Sunday, and debriefing the babies’ antics over a couple pints is a joy. It’s hard to overstate how much of a tonic that time is for us. They say it takes a village to raise a child, and I never feel that more acutely than I do at The Well.

I feel I’m in danger of painting an overly rosy picture of parenting here in Lowertown. Our neighborhood has its challenges, and to deny that would be doing it an injustice. Yes, we have problems with drugs and all the other symptoms of poverty and homelessness. And yes, Lowertown carries a disproportionate amount of that burden for the city writ large.

But, confronted with the opioid crisis, the housing crisis, and all the other crises that are facing our city, time and time again I see neighbours standing up to help. Volunteering. Looking out for neighbours. Cleaning up garbage. Taking pride in their small corner of the world.

So yes, Lowertown offers incredible opportunities to expose my daughter to the arts, to history, to culture, to community. But it also exposes her to the best of us. It shows her that there’s value in acts of kindness, both big and small, and that compassion matters, especially when it’s hard.

As two Ottawa transplants, we’re proud our daughter will be able to say she was born and raised in Lowertown. Someday, we hope she will be, too.