Do you remember playing patintero, piko, luksong baka, tumbang preso, 10-20, chinese garter, luto-lutoan, teacher-teacher, doctor-doctor, or dressing up with your mom's (or dad's) clothes to play adult, wrapping the blanket around your body and pretend you were in a gown, walking the red carpet, or maybe even spending the whole day just painting, cutting art paper and gluing stuff on anything you find at home? I know I have done everything and so much more when I was a kid. I'm proud to say that I have a vast imagination that I even crossover to an alter universe for pretend play. It was FUN.
With all these kinds of play though, it's very very sad to see today's kids, we call the "iPad generation." Friends are now being replaced with gadgets, socializing are done in Facebook and exploring happens in Youtube. *sigh*
Being a new mom, it's very worrying what kind of future my baby will have. I don't want to succumb to the digital generation, although I allow my baby to see Mickey Mouse Club House on TV from time to time, coz hey, who doesn't love Mickey, right? I want my child to enjoy her childhood to the fullest, even if it means I have to hug a sweaty sun-scented muddy child everyday. I want her to experience the innocence and freedom of being a child and not pressure her into becoming an adult. She has a lot of time for that.
I once asked one of my best friends, who has a 9 year old daughter, doesn't she play outside the house with neighbors? And her answer was that she's scared that her daughter might get kidnapped. "You never know. Sometimes, crimes happen even inside the neighborhood. She plays in school with her classmates during P.E. time." And truth be told, I felt a bit sorry because I know for a fact that she doesn't know what she's missing, although I also have to admit she has a point.
I wonder, is there a safe and fun environment I can bring my daughter to when the time comes?
Low and behold, the answer came in the form of an invite from Kidzania Manila.