Family friendly Korea

For those who don't know anything about Korea, it sometimes gets a bad reputation, most of which isn't true, at least not anymore. Before I came here I heard how dirty and run down it is, and all sorts of other things I don't even remember. When we first got here, I shared some of my first impressions of all the wonderful things I loved about Korea. (See here) While I still get homesick for the US, and am looking forward to moving back, there are certainly a lot of things I'm going to miss about Korea. One of the things I love the most is the family friendly environment here. Everyone LOVES kids here. They are always giving the girls little candies or treats. They are really sweet (the people, not just the treats.) It's not like in the US where people get annoyed at children at the drop of the hat and start banning them off of airplanes, restaurants, you name it!

Another plus are the plethora of fun places to take kids, and the affordability of such places. We love taking Claire to the jump jump (a place with wall to wall trampolines and balls to play with among other things and where she had her birthday party), Little Prince (just one kind of many kid cafes where you can eat and the kids play for up to 2 hours where really kind workers keep an eye out watching your kids, and you can also watch them on screens if they are out of eyesight), and the play place at Lotte Mart (where you can leave your kids while you go shop, though we always stay with our kids.) There are so many more too. It's especially nice during the winter time when you want to go somewhere fun that is indoors.

Maddie's first time on a little ride in the food court at Lotte Mart. She LOVED it!

In the fun cart together on the way to the play place upstairs.

Claire loves getting buried in the balls at the play place. She especially loves when you fill the compartment overhead, and it counts down (in English!) to when the balls will all drop out. 

Maddie likes the ball pit too.

Maddie loved the roller slide. Claire was even pretty scared of it at first. Ah, the different personalities. Look at how awesome a big sister Claire is ready to catch her little sister. She very willingly waited for Maddie despite her friend running off without her ready to do something else. <3 td="">

Claire always loves the train. This was Maddie's first time on it. She kept wanting to stand up until the train actually started moving.

It's crazy blurry, but still fun. Loving the roller slide. (The heavier you are, the faster you go on that thing. It's pretty fun!)

Chillin' on the rocking horse.

Here's one hot button topic in the US. Nursing your baby in public. Some say you should be allowed to whip it out whenever the baby needs to eat. Others say do it in private. Well, I usually keep my opinion to myself about hot topic issues, but this is my blog, so I'm going to share.

I recently read an article about some women who had a breastfeeding sit out at a mall just to prove a point. They sat in a busy part of the mall, whipped out their boobs, and fed their children, just to prove the point that you should be able to. Then they were shocked when it caused trouble. I think you should always be able to nurse your baby when he/she needs, but you can also be considerate of those around you. When I have been in a mall, I would often go to a dressing room to feed my baby. It's perfect! There have been times when I have been in public, and there was no place to go to feed my baby. I specifically remember having this problem while in NYC. We were out for the day, far from our hotel, and of course a baby needs to eat. I fed the baby in the courtyard in front of FAO Schwartz once, but I used a nursing cover. I also had to do so in restaurants, though looked for seating that is more private if possible. At our church here in Korea, we don't have a mother's lounge, so again, I used the nursing cover and tried to sit in the back with my back against a wall. I know some babies really refuse the covers, but I have still been amazed at how discreet women can be even without one. My issue with those who want to feed their baby openly in very public places is this: one day, I will probably have a teenage boy. I don't really want him seeing all these boobs flying out everywhere in public places. Nuf said. So anyway, my point is, of course, nurse your baby, even if you need to in public, but be considerate of those around you and do so as discretely as you can.

Anyway, this leads me to another awesome thing about Korea. There are nursing lounges EVERYWHERE! Almost every place there is a bathroom, there is a nursing lounge nearby. This is the case at stores and even in museums. I was walking through a wooded secret garden by one of the ancient palaces. We came to a restroom there, and there was also a nursing lounge. How cool is that? Problem solved! You don't have to worry about nursing your baby in front of people when there are such NICE places to feed your baby. These lounges are really nice - comfy couches with supportive arm cushions, a really nice changing area and a place to wash your hands, a water cooler and microwave so even if you formula feed your baby, you have a calm, soothing place to feed him/her. They are so nice in fact, I recently took some pictures of one to share with you.

Restroom to the right, nursing room to the left. (Speaking of restrooms, most restrooms have at least one toilet with a kid seat and stools at the sinks for kids. Some restrooms even have the cutest tiny flushable toilets for kids. Claire LOVES those.)

Right where you walk in. This could even be a sitting area for the dads for all I know. I think there are curtains you can pull shut in the other rooms. Cozy carpet, soothing colors, and comfy couches.

Nursing area. They even provide a nice resting spot for your arm.

Changing area. These are way nicer than the pull down ones you find in US restrooms.

Bottle prep area. There are even some cups there (that you can't see in this pic) so mama can get hydrated too.

Is this not awesome?!? If the US would do this, I would think (hope) some of that silly debate of nursing in public would be solved. Who wouldn't want a calm place like this to feed their baby? They even have magazines for the moms to read (which were in Korean so didn't help me.)

Korea really knows how to take care of and cherish families. I LOVE that about this country, and it's going to be sad going back to a country that is not nearly as family friendly.