Paul Bass photo
Once you hear how many steps Estelita Boateng took before arriving on Nicoll Street Wednesday with her 4‑month-old son Lucas, you may never complain again about your exhausting daily routine.
Boateng wasn’t complaining, though. She was on not just a daily journey, but a longer-term journey back home to the city where she was born. And finding her groove.
Estelita and Lucas were snuggled in the light rain under an umbrella outside the mActivity gym and community center in Goatville. mActivity has become one stop on their daily routine.
Estelia described that routine while Lucas smiled and locked eyes with a new acquaintance during a conversation on the “Word on the Street” segment of WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven” program.
The day started as usual at 4 a.m. inside their home in the Throgs Neck section of the Bronx.
Estelita got the kids up and ready for the day. She prepared a bagel and cream cheese for her 11-year-old son Jacob. She made a turkey and cheese sandwich and packed it with grapes for his school lunch. “He twisted my arms for a Swiss roll,” she added, so that went in too.
The three got out of the house in time to catch the 5:03 a.m. 42 bus to Fordham Road. There they caught the Metro-North train that arrived in New Haven at 7:52.
Usually they catch a CT Transit bus up Whitney Avenue to deliver Jacob to Foote School. Today they instead took a cab because he needed to arrive early for ERB standardized testing.
At Foote, Estelita, who was fueled with 25 ounces of coffee, changed Lucas’s diaper at a station in the bathroom. Then they headed for their daily first stop, 15 minutes at East Rock Park. They saw their regular pals there. “He gave them smiles,” Estelita said of Lucas, “and a little bit of spit up.”
Next they strolled as usual to mActivity. They park there daily. The center offers coffee and space to hang out along with wifi.
Estelita planned to log in at noon. She had a Zoom meeting scheduled for her job at a nonprofit advocacy group called Melanated Moms.
Lucas was born in July. In recent weeks Estelita has been transitioning back to work, juggling her own mom routine with her job connecting and advocating for other moms.
She had her first son at 29, after earning her MBA and enjoying the 20-something child-free life. “I gave it a good run. Now I’m happy to be Jacob’s mom and Lucas’s mom,” she said.
Given the 11-year gap between her two sons, she has found herself relearning some of the work-parenthood balance with a baby.
“I’ve had to let go of my image of perfection. One Zoom meeting he screamed bloody murder. … I said, ‘That’s Lucas back there.’ And it was OK! I’m not the first person to have babies.”
This is the second year Estelita has been making this daily trek from the Bronx to New Haven with Jacob.
Why does she do it?
Because she’s looking to move to New Haven. Back to New Haven. She’s a big fan of the city. She spent her first eight years here and has good memories. Her father, a Ghanaian immigrant, met her mother at Yale when they were both students, and moved the family to the Bronx when Estelita was 8.
Estelita decided she wanted to raise her kids here instead of the Bronx. She has been planning for a while to move into one of the new apartments coming into the former Church of the Redeemer building on Whitney Avenue. She has received word that her unit will be ready for move-in on Jan. 1.
At that point Estelita is in line to catch a little more sleep. The morning routine will become simpler.
Until then, she’s not complaining.
Click on the video to watch the full conversation with Estelita Boateng on the “Word on the Street” segment of WNHH FM’s “LoveBabz LoveTalk” program. Click here to subscribe to WNHH FM’s “LoveBabz LoveTalk” and here to subscribe to other WNHH programs.
