We’ve only been to a couple of Reykjavik restaurants and cafes thus far, but many of them have had some sort of kids’ area, ranging from just a table with a few toys to a full-on playroom, like the lower floor of The Laundromat in the image below.
A couple of notes:
- Overall, the kids here (and in Stockholm) are very well-behaved. Observations on the behavior of kids in the playgrounds/play areas in various countries probably deserves its own post.
- … and a little shy. Unlike our child. We’ve been trying to offer Theo ideas for how to make friends without terrifying them by running up and saying hello (or hej/hæ) over and over. I suppose this is probably a technique that wouldn’t go over well in most cultures, but it seems particularly ineffective in Nordic countries.
- It’s not just a mom’s club. When I took Theo to The Laundromat on my own a couple of days ago, there were two dads with their kids and me, the mom in the minority. Similarly, there were tons of dads with kids running around Stockholm. While I’ve read that even in Nordic countries women are still more likely than men to take off time with their kids, it’s definitely a different (and refreshing) balance than I’m used to seeing.
