Babies aboard everywhere

A few different blogs of sailing families that I follow are expecting children soon.  One family, SV Sereia, has put up their sailing for awhile and are returning home to have the baby.  Another, BoatBaby, is still living aboard on the East coast with her five year old son, and plans to continue life as usual.  I hope that they will all continue to share their lives with me through blogging because we don't actually know anyone (in our non-virtual life) that have babies aboard, and it is nice to not feel quite so alone. 

People seem to react to us when we tell them where we live with some kind of shock and horror.  Boatbay recently posted some FAQ of her own that inspired my own posting.  Thanks!

What's it like having a baby on a boat?
Well, it is small, and we don't really have any hot water.

How do you take a shower?
We walk up to the shower house and take her stroller into the handicap stall, or I go to the gym where there is child care.  I never have to clean a shower stall anymore, which is good, because I hardly ever did that in the first place, and it was expensive to have a cleaner come every week when we lived in an apartment.

Do you plan to travel on your boat?
Yes!  We have plans once Yemaya is older and the finances are in order.  They involve Mexico and beyond depending on how much fun we end up having and how long the money lasts.

What are you going to do when she can walk/crawl?
Well, it depends.  It is about a 10 minute walk up our dock.  Right now she travels that distance in her stroller (which I am also enjoying as a dock cart).  There is really no reason that she can't continue to ride in the stroller until she is able to be trustworthy enough and a decent enough swimmer that I am not terrified that she will fall in the water.  Of course, our daughter is already demonstrating some temperament traits that leave me to believe she will want to do everything on her own, so ridding in the stroller might not go down well.  We will just hope that the birds continue to be a nice distraction along the dock, enough to distract her from her own desire for independence that is.

Don't you worry about her falling over board?
Yes, and no.  Of course I worry about it, but I'm not worried about it.  We will see what we do, but just as you would not let your toddler play in the front yard near a street unattended, I don't plan to plop her up on deck and then do something else.  It always makes me want to ask don't you worry about your toddler darting into the street?  It is so dangerous to live in a house.

Things that people never ask, but they should.
How many pairs of pants do you have?  How many books fit on your book shelf?  How do you and your husband deal with each others messes from projects?  What happens when you need some space from each other?  How many people can brush their teeth at once?  How often do you accidentally kick or step on someone else?  What do you keep in your dock box?  Why is your car always full of stuff?  To me these are the more interesting questions about boat life, the ones that I actually ask myself on a regular basis, and tell you a lot more about life on a boat then, "Where do you shower?"