It’s tough raising young kids. One bombards your ear drums with her yelling, drowning the persistent “Why?!” questions asked by her elder brother. You desperately crave for spaces in which they can gladly be and give you that precious few minutes of respite.

Sensei to the rescue! I will introduce you places that will capture your children’s attention and buy you some peace. First up, Humanitarian Youth Centre is a rustic sanctuary located in Yishun. It boasts a book exchange corner that will feed your children’s fascination with picking and throwing books. It also has a central platform where they need to take off their shoes. I don’t know what magical powers that platform has, but both my children took books to it and sat down for a bit. Maybe it was liberating for them not to go shoe-less.

Highly recommended. And yes, I took some books home.