Of all the things that make me smile on a daily basis, I think the little Estonian children are among my favorites. I am constantly struck by children and how they can stare at you without inhibition because they have not yet learned to be inhibited. I wonder when that happens? Imagine if all adults magically lost their inhibition and we all rode the subway together.
Estonia has been experiencing a baby boom since independence was restored in 1991 and it’s quite apparent as you wander the streets. Invariably, a mother is passing me with her young child well-bundled in a carriage. Sometimes, if I’m lucky, I see a mother pulling her child in a sled. The first time I saw this, I thought “well that’s odd.” But having thought about it, I think “how clever.” With the sidewalks serving better as ice rinks, why not keep your child’s center of gravity parallel with the ice in a red plastic sled? And I imagine the child isn’t complaining. Sometimes they are made to hold onto the days groceries and they clutch them with fervor as their mothers ramp them over a curb.
I have been thinking about how best to describe the children in their snowsuits. It’s as though they are placed inside this spacesuit-type riggings and they have resigned to the fact that they can’t control their movements, so they don’t. Their arms stick out perpendicular to their bodies and they direct their energy to just observing the passersby. Or maybe they’re just so cold, they can’t be bothered to scream or cry. Whatever the case may be, I find them utterly charming.
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