The Child-Friendly Cafe Society
OK, you must know that I love Bulgaria even though I have been doing a lot of complaining about the heat. There are some ways this country is better than all the others I have ever visited. It’s child-friendly.
If I told our Bulgarian friends about the child-friendly restaurant I recently reviewed, they wouldn’t understand why it needed to exist.
After the long hot days, everyone goes out for a walk in the center of town. They might sit and talk on a public bench, or they might sit down at a cafe. Many of those cafes have their tables surounding a little play area so that parents or grandparents can have a liesurely drink while watching their children play with the other kids. And, because everyone is so child-oriented, everyone watches all the kids, not just their own.
True, this is a small town and I might be jaded from a lifetime of urban spaces. Still, this morning I was shocked when, while waiting in line at the breakfast cafe (Bulgarians like to eat different pastries or buns involving baked cheese late in the morning), when the place was crowded and a little boy started to fuss.
“Who’s the mother of the little child?” the woman behind the counter called out.
“Here,” said the mother.
All the other customers parted to let the mother get to the front of the line. Just writing that down the way I saw it and heard it, makes me want to cry with happiness.
Tags: child-friendly-vacations, child-friendlysocieties, why-I-love-BulgariaRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Baby Care, Mental Health
2 opinions for The Child-Friendly Cafe Society
ratphooey
Jul 30, 2007 at 6:05 am
How lovely.
I’ve always done my best to keep other people’s small ones entertained in boring places, like airplanes and long lines. But how nice for “the system” to do the same!
Christina
Jul 30, 2007 at 7:15 pm
That’s just lovely. It reminds me of Dubai, where everyone was so nice to the children. though the sheer amount of candy he was gifted had me brushing his teeth obsessively ;-)
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