Hello Dearies!
As you all know, I'm a mom of 2 little princesses, and being girly girls, we do love shopping, even though its just to window shop and try out clothes and never buy them haha (much to the chagrin of Mr. Hubster :P). One of the joys of having girls is you get to doll them up, your very own live little dolls you get to play dress up with. I'm preddy sure I wont feel the same way when they're older and have their own tastes on what's cool and what's not, but for now... its preddy much dress-me-Barbie all over again!
But today's blog isn't about dressing up my DeeDees... No, today, I wanna talk about something all you moms out there must have experienced at least once while shopping with your family. Have you ever gotten a big headache when you're in a mall and suddenly you need to change your child's diaper, nurse your baby or your pre-schooler needs to go to the loo, but there is no baby room or parenting room in sight? I know I have! One too many times to be exact huhu.
That's why I make a point to find out what facilities are available in the malls I intend to go to, and to those who have excellent amenities for moms like me are the malls I frequent for our little family excursions. So here I am, on a quest to reveal the very few gems of a mall that is Baby/Kid-friendly. Today, I will review:
Parents' Room @ Citta Mall, Petaling Jaya
To those who aren't familiar with Citta Mall, its this neighbourhood open-air strip mall located within the Ara Damansara locale, right along the Subang Airport Highway in PJ. The mall mostly consists of F&B outlets, ranging from the popular Chillis to the quaint Kay's Riches and several coffee joints in between (my Achilles heel apparently :P). The rest of the mall are occupied by a supermarket as well as various retail and specialty shops that cater to the neighbourhood needs.
From the first time I set foot in Citta mall, I could tell its a family oriented mall. Wide unobstructed walkways peppered with benches to rest on and dustbins aplenty. The information counter is located literally on the front steps of the main entrance, and they offer guest services that include directories, baby strollers for hire and wheelchairs for the elderly. Even the washroom were nice and spacious, not like the usual cramped toilets in alot of the major malls nowadays.
The first few times I've been there, I've handled Delea's little nature calls in the disabled washroom cum changing room, where there's a changing table you could use. I never realized that there was a proper parenting room just one floor up! So one fine day, after browsing Harvey Norman's latest gadgets for sale, we came across what must be the coolest parenting room we have EVER encountered. Here's why:
Reason #1: Wide & Open Spaces
The Entrance
No more going through a maze of narrow passages towards the loo to find the baby room. Citta Mall's Parents' Room is right smack off the main walkway of the first floor, not too far from the elevators. There's a bench outside the room for some dads who shy away from diaper duty. And the door is a clear automatic sliding door that both allows easy access as well as visibility in case your adventurous one decide to venture outside while you're changing the youngest's soiled diaper.
Reason #2: Playtime, Happy Times!
The Ossum Play Area
None of the miniscule table with a lego collection the size of your kid's kiddy plate in this parenting room. No broken and disfigured hand-me-down toys. Just oodles of colourful, climbing-sliding-crawling-roleplay fun! Suffice to say Deena refused to budge when we said we were leaving for home... :P
Reason #3: Itty Bitty Kiddy Loos!
Teenie Weenie Toilets
Wash Area
One of my favourite features in this parenting room. Don't you just HATE it when your pre-schooler needs to go to the toilet (which they normally fail to tell us till the very last minute and they're thisss close to wetting their pants), and when you get to the washroom, there's this absurdly long queue waiting ahead of you? Oh the stress! Well, this lil' kiddy loo is a gem, lemme tell ya! The answer to all that public toilet queue dilemma. First off, there's this big sign that says the Kiddy Loo is restricted to kids aged 6 and below ONLY (see pic)The little water closets come in 2 sizes (small & tiny), complete with bidet and toilet paper (which is more than I can say about MOST adult toilets out there huhu). And the stalls are spacious enough for mommies and daddys to accompany their tots while they do their business.
To top it all off, there's a big wash basin with chic lighted mirrors, a soap dispenser and tissue paper, complete with a wooden step stool to help the little tots to wash up by themselves. Its all about independence in this place. I think I made my eldest go to the toilet just so she can test the facilities out. My sister thinks I'm obsessed with the loo. I think she might be a wee bit right! hahaha
Reason #4: The Nursing "Suite"
The Nursing Suites
For Nursing Comfort
I'm sure all breastfeeding moms out there agree with me: The nursing rooms in most malls out there leave much to be desired! Super cramped rooms (if you can even call them that... some are more like closets or shower stalls IMHO), tattered chairs, rubbish everywhere, and the occasional soiled diaper left to rot in the room. Comparatively, the nursing rooms at Citta Mall are like suites! Each spacious, clean room offers 3 comfy armchairs, a coffee table, tissues and electric sockets for moms who want to express milk for storage. And there's 3 rooms to be used! Outside each room there's a sign you can use to indicate that the room is occupied. Very cool!
Reason #5: Turning Tables on Diaper Changing
Changing Tables
Not 1.. not 2.. but 4 changing tables! And these are no run-of-the-mill trolley-like tables padded with the thinnest possible changing mat ever created, moms and dads... these tables are fitted with PVC mattresses not unlike those examination beds you find in clinics. Soft and comfy, easy to clean, bright-green changing tables to ease the most dreaded chore of parenthood. Oh and if you forgot to pack your young'uns lotions and talcum powder, fret not! This parenting room even provides you with that, and then some. Paper tissues are neatly supplied in little green trays, and there's 2 big sinks for you to clean up with.
Reason #6: Safe & Sound
Security Notice
This state-of-the-art parenting room is finally completed with safety measures -- CCTV and the occasional patrol by the mall's security personnel. With all the missing kids cases, one cannot be too careful, so this extra measure surely helps put us parents' minds at ease...
So that's one of the best parenting room for ya, reviewed,dissected and raved about. Quite simply a haven for both parent and child. If I had to complain about anything at all, it would be the lack of a hot water dispenser for parents to make formula with, but then again, that's just me being nitpicky. To parents who're headed to Citta Mall, go and chk out this facility. To other mall management, I think its high time you upgraded your most forgotten facility into something that is a joy to use, and not a health-hazard.
As for me, I'm looking forward to find another parenting room that could be in the same league as this one. Till then, happy parenting!
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