The Choice Era. Part 1. Nata Kay

them well for a big life. Educational games and programs, communication with peers, studying of social norms and principles of morality were instilled in every single kindergarten, and in the evenings parents took their child home, and families were reunited.

      On the appointed day, Mona and Harry drove up to one of the exemplary kindergartens. A narrow six-story building with a yellow facade was surrounded by a lovely and well-maintained green garden, and there was a playground behind a fence.

      From somewhere on the second or the third floor there came a child’s laughter. Mona, who was getting out of the car, froze for a moment. She started listening and smiling, slammed the car door and nodded toward the front door inviting Harry to hurry into the building.

      There were some couches in the bright room, which served as a lobby. Every working morning parents left their children here in care of the staff and took them home in the evening.

      Light carpets covered the floor, and there were numerous pillows in different colors on the sofas. These pillows were the only vivid accents in the room. The rest of the interior was never motley. Beige walls with a soft painting attracted the attention of only those who used to peer into details. The rest of the walls were left unnoticed.

      «I heard,» Mona said softly. «That a few decades ago there were tables that looked like reception desks, but then they were forbidden not to let children see only office attributes around them from an early age. What if they would like to become someone who would work outside business centers? Now everything looks like this… It’s so great, isn’t it, Harry?»

      Harry nodded.

      In fact, there was a reception desk that looked like an ordinary coffee table with a small screen on it. A young woman was sitting in a chair near the desk. She was wearing a name tag on her blouse, but Mona and Harry couldn’t see the name from a distance.

      Seeing the guests, the woman distracted from the screen, got up and headed for the visitors with the most friendly appearance.

      «Nelsons, right?» she asked and shook their hands. She reminded Harry of Ivy to some extent. The same blonde locks, the same radiant smile.

      «Right,» Mona confirmed and took Harry’s hand. A facilities tour had not begun yet, but Mona was already enjoying the situation. She clearly loved being in the kindergarten. «I haven’t been to kindergartens since I went to school. But I really loved it… Such incredible memories. You can’t even imagine how great it is to be here again.»

      «Did you visit our kindergarten as a child?» the sunny girl didn’t hide her joy when she heard such a reaction from the guests.

      «No, no,» Mona shook her head. «It was a different one. Much smaller and more modest. And in another district. But there is something here that reminds me of my childhood.»

      «I’m very glad to hear that,» said the girl and her face got more serious. «Then, if you’re ready, we’ll start the tour. My name is Emma and I will show you the building. We will walk through the rooms where children of several age groups get a break, play and receive primary education. Then we will look at the common and service premises. Please do not hesitate to ask any questions. Even if you think the questions are ridiculous, ask them anyway. There are no ridiculous questions.»

      There were several doors in the lobby. Emma pointed to one of them. At the same time another employee of the kindergarten came out of another door. She took Emma’s place at the coffee table. Unlike her previous colleague, the woman, who came to replace her, was more like a businesswoman than a person who was working with children.

      Before heading out on the tour Mona glanced over at the second woman. It seemed to Harry that Mona was involuntarily glad it was Emma, who was taking them on the tour.

      «You have different people working here,» Mona couldn’t sustain her thoughts and expressed them, after all.

      «That’s how it should be,» Emma replied without any sign of surprise. She opened the door letting the visitors go first. «Children have the right to see different people around them. Homogeneous environment rapidly increases the likelihood that children will copy adults. This is unacceptable, the kid’s personality should be formed regardless of external factors.»

      Such serious words contradicted with the girl’s appearance. However, everyone knew that prospective recruits were trained thoroughly before employment. By the end of their specialized courses they knew exactly how to work with children, how to improve their childhood, how to prepare them for school and adulthood. Employees were also trained to work with parents.

      There was a small staircase and an elevator behind the door, for which the Nelsons and Emma were headed. The elevator door opened quickly and silently, Harry and Mona followed Emma.

      «We’ll start with the top floor,» Emma said and pressed the button. «There is a room with the youngest. From six months to two years. Then we will visit the middle group and the older kids.»

      «That makes sense,» said Harry.

      It didn’t take long to get to the top floor.

      The first room wasn’t really a room. There was a space with plain walls behind the door, guarded by a magnetic lock. Plain, except for a huge glass along one of the walls.

      Obviously, that was a «bedroom» behind the glass. About ten babies were sleeping peacefully in their cribs. Some of them were hugging toys, others were alone. The cribs protected the sleeping kids from falling, but at the same time allowed to freely observe them.

      Despite the fact that nothing was actually happening in the room, that was really fascinating. Peaceful atmosphere was kind of addictive, anyone couldn’t help looking at these cute kids again, again and again. Mona and Harry were not an exception.

      «Their peers are playing nearby,» Emma said by shifting her gaze from Mona to Harry. «We take into account their biorhythms. If there is a time when a child is active, he is awake. We do not put anyone to bed unless biological imperative needs it. The sleep schedule is drawn up immediately after the examination.»

      Emma didn’t deceive them, the other kids were right there, beyond the wall. Another room with light walls and neutral floor was literally filled with children’s laughter. Children were playing with all kinds of toys – cars, tiny trains, dolls, stuffed bears, kittens, giraffes and other animals. Some children were playing with each other or trying to build something with colorful blocks.

      There were two adult tutors in the room, a man and a woman. They hardly interfered in kid’s activities. They didn’t offer any toys. They only kept order and showed their attention when kids demanded it.

      The children weren’t almost interested in the appearance of three other adults in the room. A few of them looked at the strangers with a bit of curiosity, but they quickly got back to their toys.

      «As you see,» said Emma. «We do not impose the tutor’s community on kids in order not to make them more important than parents. Moreover, children are free to choose what to play with. Many researchers believe that namely toys may form a child’s consciousness of a boy or a girl, but we do not take part in it.»

      Harry tried to listen, but the kids hypnotized him and made him smile. So tiny, so pure, so sincere. In adult life he missed this childish clumsiness and impartiality. He missed kind eyes free from everyday problems. He missed such a simple humanity, after all. But all this was more than enough there in the room.

      Mona was even more hypnotized. She heard only a few words from Emma, but she stood there smiling and sighing softly from time to time.

      «There is no strict uniform in the kindergarten,» Emma continued in a calm tone. «We only provide parents with official recommendations for kids’ clothes. Unfortunately, we have to prohibit dresses and skirts. Trousers and pants don’t push to choose a sex at an early age, so we ask parents to purchase them.»

      Harry wasn’t embarrassed about the ban on skirts at all.