This Week on Dateline...
Playgrounds -- Public convenience...or death center? Beth and I bumped into her uncle and his two cute little kids (2 and 4 years old) on our way to the tennis courts Sunday. He was taking them to grandma's, so we thought we'd spare her a bit and take them to the playground for a while.
Terrifying! But still a lot of fun.
The entire thing is metal -- why isn't their foam on the ladders, soft plastic in front of the bobby horses (I experienced my first accident here when 2 year old Noah got a bloody lip) -- something! They have these big metal cranes in the sandboxes, with little kids behind each one swinging them around like a demonic knight in battle.
Other parents don't care. They are sitting around and watching as their kids dump sand on others, jump off the top of the playground with other kids below. Just scary.
It was a ton of fun though. The kids are really cute and full of energy, plus it's fun to try out "parenting" strategies on them. One of them listened to us, the other one didn't. So, how do you trick them into doing what you want? I also noticed the women were checking me out. I don't think girls want to see you with your own kid -- they just want to see you with a kid. Little Noah was better than a Labrador and I find that hilarious.
Beth and I had a lot of fun with them, though they were exhausting. Not near the kid point yet (not quite at the marriage point), but it's fun to see where we will be eventually.
(posted by grant at 10/08/2007)
