Childhood that ends

2020

“Do you remember as little Serezha liked to swing on a swing? And then he grew up and was afraid of swinging”, — I overheard on one of the children’s playgrounds.

Children’s playgrounds — the first islands of social experience for a child outside the home.This is a place to acquire communication skills with people of different ages. A place where a child learns to be happy, upset, feel pain, humiliation and fear. Here they learn new feelings and words, learn the rules of how to be together, what is possible and what is not, and what punishment follows for violating these rules.

Playgrounds are a portal to adulthood. Often here children leave not only toys, lose clothes, here they also leave naive views and open hearts.

My growing up among other children was a very sad experience…That’s why wandering through empty courtyards in time of self-isolation, I felt especially acutely how painful and sad it can be to say goodbye to childhood.