Airport play park

Airports aren’t exactly the most child-friendly places, but lots of people travel with children and end up trying to amuse them for hours on end while waiting for connecting flights.

During our marathon yesterday we ended up with two hours of dead time in Chicago O’Hare’s Terminal 5—two extra hours after we had taken the people mover, grabbed a burger at the airport Mickey D’s, and gone through security.

By some miracle Terminal 5 has been blessed with a tiny play park. There was a sign that said something about some artist group which I didn’t really get, but nevertheless: tiny play park. So Andrea started playing in there with some other children, and had two solid hours of fun, getting a lot of energy out of her system.

Watching a bunch of children from who-knows-where playing together was a treat, especially with the shape the world is in these days. “Tag! You’re it!” is universal.

So, if you happen to be a person with some pull at an airport, please consider putting in a little play park. There will be a lot of happier passengers.