When the sun starts getting hotter the playgrounds come out of hibernation and fill up with hordes of screaming children. Happy times – a hymn to joy.

During the winter months you see the swings and slides of the local park abandoned, alone, almost sad. They rust in the cold, and the snow bleaches their vibrant colours.

Then spring arrives with its first hot rays of sun, and along come the first little arms and legs ready to shake the denizens of the playground from their winter slumber. There’s only a few of them at first, with their little heads still covered by woolly hats. But finally, when the violets start blooming and the maple trees grow their first little red leaves, kids armed with pieces of chalk flock to the playgrounds, and the peace is over! It’s great to let the kids take off their winter jackets and run wild, and it’s great to retreat happily to the benches to chat with the other mums. It might seem boring, and in certain cases it certainly is: a friend of ours avoids the park like the plague, for instance. But we “Funky” mums are more fortunate, with our bikes leant up against the bench, and a variety of food items laid out for the kids (always rigorously shared of course): “favourite auntie” mode fully activated – that’s all we need. For a couple of hours we alternate between the slide: “Weeee… who’s a brave boy” and our friends: “So, tell me…” . The local park is a real-life social network – an old-fashioned space for sharing fun and making friends, and an important and beautiful space for us all to spend time in.

Guest Blogger: Le Funky Mamas