Reverse Culture Shock

In London, we chose indoor acitivities during many months of the year to escape the rain. Here in Atlanta, we are trying to seek refuge from the heat.

There was a time when we went to Gymboree in the Whiteley’s shopping center every other day (we breathed a big sigh of relief when our daughter got sick of it. There are only so many plush blocks you can climb on before you start to go a little stir crazy). And we visited the kids’ area of the Science Museum about once a month.

Unlike Gymboree, it was free (Gymboree is anything but free — on average, about 15 pounds a pop). But visiting with a crawling toddler involved keeping them safe from throngs of tourists’ and bigger kids’ feet.

It’s geared more towards the over-5 set, with shape puzzles, a light and music chamber, and dress up clothes. And if you get there much later than 10 AM on a weekend — especially a rainy day — it’s absolutely mobbed.

Here, people seem to stay in their houses when the weather’s unpleasant. Everyone seems to have a massive playroom that they bring the kids to when they don’t feel like heading out.

I only knew one person in London with a dedicated playroom, and they lived outside of Zone 2. In Central London, it was tough to find the space for an extra bedroom — let alone a playroom.

The best option, I think, would be to have a playroom, with the option of a place like the Science Museum. I miss the different accents we would hear there, and the off the wall exhibits (an insight into Iceland’s hot water springs, pre-financial crisis…a history of aviation…a green city tour….) that we could see while the kids slept in the stroller.

I even miss the game of dodging the other visitors’ feet.