One of the great things about living in Copenhagen is the abundance of green space. Woody and I are able to to stroll through a park at least once each day, often just as a pass through onto somewhere else. A few weeks ago, the three of us packed a picnic and rode out to Fredericksberg Have. Fredericksberg is an autonomous city within Copenhagen that is family and expat friendly (read: wealthy).
The park is actually former castle grounds with very traditional English gardens, like something out of a Jane Austen book (aside from this Chinese bridge). The Copenhagen Zoo is also within the park and you can even view the elephants without having to pay admission.
I never before thought a swan could be commonplace until I came to Copenhagen. They are everywhere.
Can you tell what this?
In Denmark, the pacifier doesn't seem to hold the same taboo as it does in the U.S. Every baby shamelessly sucks on one at any given time. It's not uncommon to see toddlers riding bikes and playing while sucking on a piece of plastic in their mouth. Dropped binkies litter the streets and parks (each lost binky, in my mind, represents a very unhappy baby and frantic parents looking for a way to soothe their child). I'm not anti-pacifier (little Felix uses one to help him sleep at night), but I think by the time you can walk you shouldn't be sucking on plastic.
We first came across a binky tree in the park across from our house. At the time, I thought the tree had become a sort of 'home' for lost binkies. The tree screamed, "come take me back home!" But this tree in Fredericksberg had a lot more binkies and even notes and pictures. Turns out, the binky tree is like a tangible version of the binky fairy. When it's time to give up the nipple, kids ceremoniously hand it over to the tree.
Dear Sucker,
It is hereby time to say goodbye.
You have followed me through thick and thin,
and I'll miss you.
Many hugs,
Johannes
So sweet! I'm sure Woody's binkies will also come to rest in one of these trees in the future.
No comments:
Post a Comment