My daily dose of entertainment these days is a trip to the park – yes you know the place with swings and slides and kids high on sugar? The same. I have been heading out to my neighborhood park pretty frequently – it is a place I had not stepped into the 3 years I lived in this neighborhood. But then in my before baby days, my hangouts were usually the bookstore or the mall or the dance studio or the radio studio and not the park.

Well coming back to the park, me and my daughter people-watch and just enjoy being outdoors and people watching is so much fun. Here are some of my observations from the park

– Boys will be boys:

By the time they are 4, the gender divide is clear. The boys group together run around in breakneck speed, attempt to dismantle toys, not bother about the scorching sun and in general be boys and girls do just the opposite they group togther, sit under the shade and examine each others clothes and jewelry.

– Moms of toddlers turn blind and deaf

It is at the park that most of the moms get to unwind – they turn blind and deaf to their toddlers and watch them run wild. They typically zone out by turning to the cellphones. They have the phones glued to their ears and they talk non-stop while their kid enjoys the park.

– Moms multitask everywhere

Even at the park – one hand pushing the swing, the other holding the phone, the mouth talking and curving into a smile at the cute baby in the nearby swing, the cellphone resting on the crook of the neck and the hand waving a hello to another mom coming in, the hand grabbing a toy that is making way to the kid’s mouth and all this happen without a pause. And then there are moms with infants (below the age of 2-3 months) on a sling in front of them as they push their toddlers. It is amazing how easy it seems when they do it.

– Nannies Conference

Nannies come to the park mid-day. All nannies in the neighborhood seem to have a standard meeting time. They come, let the kids loose, turn a deaf year, sit at the picnic table and start their conference in Spanish. Non-stop. They do not bother when their wards ask for help to get on to the swings or when their wards are fighting. It is their timeout.

– Babies attract a lot of attention

Yes! Kuttyma does. Everyone has a smile for her and me. Most people stop to talk and we made some friends in the neighborhood. She enjoys the attention but I am not so sure of it myself. Sure I would like a friend to talk to but it puts a brake on my people watching as I need to concentrate on what is being spoken and by whom.

Oh! The things you can do at the park!