Vienna, day 19: play and more play. And tough times.

Once again we attended the Thursday morning playgroup. This is by far the toughest to get any interaction with the adults, and I did spend long stretches on my own - resisting the temptation to get the phone out and get a bit of socialising through social media - but here and there I exchanged a few words with various ladies. Better than nothing, and the kids like it there; also it's free and there's coffee and snacks.

On our way home, the kids were a bit tired but still well behaved. We didn't get a seat with good views so N started kneeling on a seat to see outside. That's when the old lady sitting behind us got involved - complaining about dirty seats, kids not sitting still, overwhelmed mothers who don't care.... in typical Viennese passive aggressive fashion she wasn't talking to me, she was talking about me but in a way that I should hear and feel condemned.

Oh well. The kids didn't even notice. I ignored her. And was glad that our stop was coming up.

I do try to let these things bounce off my back - similar to the telling off we had when I answered a video call on the bus - but these incidents do all feed into a certain baseline stress and worry about doing wrong. Being judged. This is not a child friendly place, and it's noticeable in a million small ways as well as big; even walking along, one small child holding each of my hands, I get people walking up behind and stepping past right in front of the kids so they trip, or get hit in the head by that person's bag - they just don't care.

There are occasional kindness exceptions - mostly by foreigners! - but in general I feel unwelcome here.

For the afternoon we had found yet another play cafe that yet again turned out to be for very small kids. I'm so glad that N is a gentle soul and plays nicely with babies! We did stay through the session but won't go back. The kids had a reasonable time there though.

As there was still quite a bit of time left before bedtime I decided a bath was a good idea. And it was, until D had a total meltdown (over literally nothing) which distressed N so I ended up with two screaming children. Rough times. I'm as ready for bed as they are now! Good night, dear readers.

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