First trip to the playground

Normally we go to the playground next to our building, seems perfectly fine for our needs, usually there are no kids (although there are lots of toddlers living here, don't know where they are hiding), so we can take Charlie with us (of course he is not allowed to pee there) and there is no waiting time.

The weather got so much better (warmer) in the last few days, so I invited a friend whom I meet quite regularly and who has a daughter 1 month younger than Teodor to go to a playground in the main city park. 

Picture from the Internet

It is a huge, fenced area with lots of slides and sand, not many other attractions, though and it is much cleaner than our local playground, probably because bigger kids are not allowed to go there (the park is guarded)...There were quite a lot of kids, which would be great for socializing if like almost everyone didn't speak Russian.

I've heard lots of stories how it looks like in the playgrounds and I must admit, they are somewhat true. There were mothers not watching their kids, so when one pushed Teodor who fell, nobody went to say sorry to him or tell the girl to say sorry (she was around 4-5, so she could do it), another girl stole a toy from him (luckily Teodor didn't mind) and there was a kid riding a tricycle, which I considered very dangerous because a three-year old totally doesn't care about a one-year old chasing pigeons (Teodor didn't see anything else than the birds), but there were also friendly people, but mostly everyone was in their own bubble. 

When we came, I took off Teodor's shoes because the ground was warm and because I strong believer in children running barefoot in order to let their foot muscles develop naturally. Took mine off too because it is very nice to walk on warm sand. Felt the disapproving looks of other parents but didn't care. One girl wanted to be barefoot too, but her mother immediately put her shoes back on. Poor little one. 

Running barefoot after pigeons was the best. He was chasing them for at least half hour, I still can't believe he could run for so long. He was soo into it that I stopped existing for that time. A bit sad but also exciting. At the end two boys (about 2 and 3 years) joined him and he could keep up with them. I felt so proud. Of course he couldn't run as fast as them, but they all somehow managed to keep together...the birds were funny, they seemed like they enjoyed the game, you know, they were close enough to keep the toddlers motivated, but far enough to keep themselves safe.