Playgrounds

Ah spring! It might actually make an appearance this weekend! The arrival of warm weather marks the end of our social hibernation. I love it when neighbours are strolling around and enjoying conversations on street corners. It's a welcome contrast from fast-paced winter walks, with rushed hellos as we hurry along to get in out of the cold.

For young parents and grandparents, spring marks the return to playgrounds and parks. What a relief to put the kids in a wagon or stroller and head to a park, to let them run around in the fresh air. Right now parks are a muddy mess but kids don't mind.

Playgrounds have improved a lot since I was a young parent. It's not just that the equipment is safer and more creative. There are also the shared toys. That never happened before. If you wanted to dig in a sandbox, you brought your pail and shovel from home. Now all kinds of parents are leaving their toys, both big and small, at neighbourhood playgrounds for others to enjoy. They could try to sell them but instead they give them to the neighbourhood. I find that a lovely gesture, a recognition that "we're all in this together."

There are invaluable lessons to be learned by sharing equipment with other kids at a park. This current generation of parents who hang out together at parks, with a collection of toys, shared by other parents, have got a good thing going. It really does take a village to raise a child.