Where you don't go to shop...

Today at the local library, I chatted to a couple of parents and we all ended up swapping tips on a perennial Parenting Dilemma.
Where on earth do you take your toddler/baby on a wintry Melbourne day?
My favourite place is the Melbourne Museum - a huge open space of running around room, with an excellent children's section that can happily fill a few hours on a rainy morning.
Other places we take Ari include Northland's Toys R Us, Ikea (great ball pit) and the humble Northcote Plaza.
Ari and I have been at good old Northcote Plaza a bit lately - it's such an odd little shopping centre.
Ari loves the train and car rides (that always remain stationary but he doesn't seem to mind) and the pet store, and I just love the fact that it's inside and warm.
The place is not so much a retail centre as a drop-in centre for parents with small children and lots and lots of old people.
Old men sit around on benches in big groups and talk all day. The shops are pretty strange - lots of cheap shops, mostly.
It's similar to our beloved Smith St in a way - full of crazy people. I find it fascinating. I struck up a conversation with an old lady on the bus the other day who was on her way to the plaza to meet a group of women for her weekly coffee out.
Say what you like about modern shopping centres, but they are really are a haven for some - I think without them a lot of older folk wouldn't have anywhere warm to go on a freezing cold day.