How to Spend Time During Parental Leave | Visiting Childcare Support Centers with Friends and Their Kids
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Going to a childcare support center with friends
I reached out to two friends from junior high school who have kids and went to a support center near my parents' home.
My friends' children were a 2-year-old who was at a stage of moving around a lot and talking, and a 4-month-old in the rolling-over phase, while my own child was 10 months old, in the prime of crawling and just starting to cruise.
It was a spacious support center with plenty of toys and space for each of them to move around as they pleased, so we had a great time.
When I go to a support center with friends, we can take turns using the restroom and feeding our babies, which makes it much more refreshing than being on solo parenting duty.
Also, seeing my child interact with other kids makes them seem even cuter.
Going to a shopping center with friends
I went to a shopping center with a group of friends from my student days, with whom I've started meeting up regularly again since a wedding.
We rented a space, laid out a leisure sheet to create an area for the kids to move around, and had a meal.
After eating, we took a little walk inside and around the shopping center.
The kids' play area was crowded because it was the weekend, so we couldn't play there, but just walking around while chatting and laughing was fun.
Here too, it was a huge help to have someone in charge of feeding my baby while I ate, or someone to push the stroller.
When you get married or have children, you tend to lose touch with friends.
But when I reached out, they were happy to meet up, and we ended up making some great memories.
I've gotten a taste for this and have been reaching out to all my friends, but since many of them are returning from parental leave or increasing their part-time hours when their kids start kindergarten or nursery school this April, I'm happily busy with a full schedule until next month.
(There is a 90% chance I will be extending my parental leave.)