Christmas is a challenging day for Jewish parents with little kids.  Toddlers and pre-schoolers want nothing more than to run around, and being cooped up in the house can drive everyone crazy.  However, it’s too cold to play outside for very long, and everything is closed.

Except for… the airport!

The airport is open 365 days a year, including Christmas.  It’s heated, the restaurants are open, and best of all, it’s practically empty.  For the cost of parking, it makes a wonderful outing.

Airports are fascinating places for kids – the escalators, the moving sidewalks, the airplanes taxiing back and forth.  Unfortunately, they don’t usually get much time to explore.  When you are at an airport, you are in a big rush to get baggage checked, get through security, and board your plane.  Kids are constantly being nudged to keep moving and not get distracted.

Coming to the airport on a quiet day like Christmas when you have no where to go is like taking kids to the biggest playground in the world.  We met up with some friends this morning at Boston Logan, and we spent the first half hour just letting the kids run back and forth along the moving side walks between the parking garage and the terminal: