Living in India with a young toddler is more complex than if we were in the Western world… Sometimes, I feel like we’re on exhibit with the staring and people sneaking photos of us. (Yes, we see you.) Occasionally, people will come up and ask to take photos with Butter Bean. It’s uncomfortable. There are children who have honestly thought Bean was a doll come to life. We think this is because of the high percentage of toy shops with mostly Caucasian dolls. More often than not, other kids don’t care what Butter Bean looks like, but a few times children have acted scared around her. I wonder if it’s because it would be quite frightening to think that there could be a ‘living doll’. The one constant comment we get is, “She looks like a doll.”
Now that the Butter Bean is 17 months old, we are investigating places where she can run around freely and play with reckless abandon without being bothered by people wanting photos or to pick her up and carry her around. Parks are off the table for free (supervised) roaming. We can use some of the playground equipment with her, but I don’t like hovering or holding her while she plays, every single time. I had a nonrestrictive childhood in regard to playing without my parents standing on top of me, and I want give that to the Bean too.
We took her to an indoor playground yesterday, and she loved it. The ball pit was her favorite. Over the next few weeks we are going to check out some of the play options available in our area to see what’s the best fit. Going somewhere that’s not public, like a mall or park, gives us some control in who interacts with the Bean. We are not looking to enroll her in a preschool. The play-place we visited yesterday has a preschool. The owner was trying to convince us to enroll Butter Bean in a 6-day-per-week^, 3-hour daily program, because in 18 more months she’ll be enrolled in Lower Kindergarten here in India.^^ (It’s not required by law, but most Indian families have their 3-year-olds in Lower Kindergarten.) Being an American, I’m accustomed to thinking of school starting at age 5 or even 6, not 3 years. There’s nothing wrong with organized daycare or preschool, but I’m just not ready for her to be enrolled in a 6-day-a-week program at 17 months. My husband is a Stay-at-Home-Husband, and does a fabulous job taking care of her. One of the major reasons we live and work here is because we can spend so much time with her. We’ll keep investigating places to see what will give Butter Bean some safe, crazy, fun playtime.
^ Indian schools meet 6-days-per-week, Monday to Saturday.
^^ I’m not convinced that an Indian school is right for us as a family at this point.
A Tea Lover's Dream 