They are little fun-stuff-queue-jumpers, and there’s nothing more annoying than that combination……. *harumphs a little*.

Last weekend saw a visit from my brother and sister to celebrate a significant birthday. My sister and I planned and connived and successfully filled a weekend with fun and shenanigans for our brother, which included a visit to CosmoCaixa, for the *Robots exhibition. (Highly recommended if you’re planning a trip to Barcelona in the not too distant future). The museum is fantastic, with or without an installation full of Terminator precursors, and well known for its interactivity. Hence our trip. After saying how heartening it was to see so many children there with their parents or school trips, and **lauding the teenage volunteer who talked us around the communal insect feature; I noted with interest the people who were indeed not there with kids. We were few and far between and also the majority of us without children were loved-up couples – who I had an enormous urge to shove in the piranha tank. Not because they were so in love (well maybe a little bit), but because they were doing most of the love in front of the interesting stuff I was trying to see and read about. ^stands up a states^ ‘I’m Anne, and I’m a geek.’ #sorrynotsorry. Time and a place, people; and in front of the Flooded Forest ain’t it if you want to avoid the wrath of an irritated Pank and value your limbs. But it wasn’t just this, it was the curious glances from parents, seeing/hearing us (me) squeal with joy as the pendulum almost knocked over a pin, and our collective oohs and aaahhhs at the various exhibits around the five floors. Joy and wonder is for adults too, people! It’s a sad state of affairs if you think it strange that adults can enjoy these things without the excuse of taking the kids, to be honest. Okay, yeah granted, I’d be suspicious if an adult turned up to a ball pit, kicked off their shoes and enthusiastically launched themselves in or went to a park and took to the tiny slide or went bonkers on the chicken on a spring (although it has been done. Natch). But come on! The place is amazing and the interactive displays are awesome. Let me have my fun! I paid my ticket price. More curious still were the looks, when it didn’t actually occur to me to get off the things, when groups of small people started gathering. I want to finish whatever it is I’ve started, goddam it. But the disapproval was palpable and my sister and I buckled under the pressure of a dozen hard stares and moved along from the robots with which we were playing pairs and tic tac toe. Albeit reluctantly. I was not hogging the only swing in the park, yaknowwadamsaying?

Forgetting your own fun and not playing with the stuff that’s readily available to play with regardless of age, is my ‘reasons why I don’t have kids’ #71

*I wonder if it’s at all easy to guess our age bracket from the things we planned. Said with tongue firmly in cheek. (For the record: we drank booze too!)

**All joking aside, she was amazing. It’s a fantastic scheme that the museum operates for young people. I felt proud on behalf of her parents! She really knew her stuff and explained everything in her third language, English, for my brother and sister. No mean feat. Wonderful young lady.