Being a Toddler in Thailand

It’s a pretty good gig.

I keep marveling at how, in a lot of ways, Hugo seems to have a lot more freedom here than he does at home.

I feel like in the US there is a constant pressure that your child behave in an adult-like fashion. People give you side-eye when you bring your child onto an airplane or into a restaurant, or if your child makes loud noises in the supermarket.

Here, it’s perfectly acceptable for children to behave as children do, and no one seems bothered by it. If your wiggly toddler gets impatient waiting for food in a restaurant, no one has a problem with just letting  your child wander around a bit. Restaurants don’t mind if you let your child peek into the kitchen, either.

Playing in the restaurant

At a restaurant we went to a few days ago, they gave Hugo a bag of balloons and a little pump to inflate them. We taught him the trick of making the balloons stick to his hair with static. This has been the scene in our living room lately:

First you rub your hair

Followed by:

It sticks!

It’s refreshing to not have to worry so much, and just let him enjoy exploring.