Singapore is very child friendly. How so?, you ask.

  1. Everyone will greet your child and/or smile at them - Everyone, right from the grandparents to the single guys who pick up the toys Ms.I is always dropping on the sidewalk.
  2. Children are expected to be children. Laughing, playing, running around is encouraged . The layouts and landscaping builds this philosophy right in.
  3. Kids are left to play. Parents stay out of it, and let the kids play among themselves. Unless they have a small toddler, the parents and helpers aren't hovering; they're having a conversation off by themselves.
  4. There are things for kids everywhere. Coffee shop = indoor playground beside the tables. Mall = huge playground in the courtyard, and a wading pool on the roof. Clothes store = table with paper and crayons. Grocery store = play structure and action games. Fancy restaurant = entire separate play area for children. And that's not even mentioning the green garden spaces and winding paths.

Basically there is something to amuse them around every corner. Actually it feels like that as an adult here too.

This is our grocery store!

We found a castle and ball throwing game in our grocery store. We took a break there before braving the check out line, and check out was a breeze in comparison to usual. Ms. I wasn't even screaming.

One of the Japanese grocery stores we've used has a carpet rolled out in an aisle in the middle of the store with Japanese cartoons playing constantly. I've never seen less than a dozen kids between the ages of 4 and 10 sitting silently cross-legged, packed together like sardines, on the floor watching with no parents in sight.

I feel like I'm figuring out this grocery shopping thing. I finally made a huge online order. Pretty proud of myself, I then realized it wouldn't be delivered in time, because of our up coming 4-day long weekend. I wanted the groceries for the actual weekend: picnics and lots of snacks for our outings and such. So I set the delivery day for after the long weekend and set off for the grocery store with the kids.

I packed about a 3/4 full cart of groceries into the stroller and made it home without making the kids carry anything. Amazingly Ms.E walked home. She usually insists on a stroller ride. I did drop the french bread crossing the street and ran it over with the stroller in my panic not to get all of us run over, but it doesn't look too worse for wear for it. Actually Ms.C carried the bread after that.

$175 in groceries - I packed all of it into the stroller. 
Proof I was able to get the groceries home. Using the bike lock to hold it all together was key!
The fountain as we left the mall both shocked and delighted the girls. They got a bit wet.