Thank you, Playground

Spring is semi-officially sprung. Actually as I write this, the weather channel is calling for 5inches of snow tomorrow. It’s April. Go home weather, your drunk.

In any case, the weather is getting warmer and with that comes a return to the outside world. It means going back to the playground and for the first time, truly taking advantage of our new home’s backyard. We moved here in December, so we’ve spent most of our time here so far with cold and snow. But now those things have (mostly) moved on and our little girl gets to be among the plants and the fresh air again.  

There is no grass to speak of, but that’s not entirely a bad thing. Our yard was outfitted by the previous owners as more of a large garden space than an actual yard. A stone pathway running down the middle is beset by would-be flower beds filled with mulch. The pathway ends at a patio that meets up with a small concrete wall that separates the main yard from the far rear area where our property ends. There is a birch tree, another would-be flower bed, and a small white fence to mark the end of our “territory”.

We have a plan to make it our own. It’s all a part of moving into a new house, while there’s not much you can do about the structure of the building itself, there’s a lot you can still do to make it fit your needs/personalities. So we have a plan in place for landscaping out back in a way that suits what we’d like to do as far as having people over for 4th of July, birthdays and just general hanging out stuff. But we’ve run into a bit of a snag.

It’s not that big of a yard, although it suits us. So in our landscaping plans we wanted to have an area that is undoubtedly for our little one to play. We’ve looked at all manner of jungle gyms but most of the ones she would actually enjoy and not grow out of are pretty darn expensive and too big for the yard. The other issue is our neighbors have cats that like to wander wherever they please, and having a play yard with any type of sandbox or little house built into it will surely attract them. We are all pretty mega-allergic to cats, so that’s a no go.

As luck would have it, we have an option that I believe will ultimately be our setup. That while, we would love to have among her other outdoor setups a full swing and slide set, we are in short walking distance of a considerably large park. Its got all the things a little kid growing up could possibly want. Sure it’s not fenced in and right off the back of our house, but it gives us the freedom to have both a comfortable retreat for our family and play time as well as the ability to go adventuring and doing the playground stuff that she loves.

There are many years to be had in this house, and many options that we can try over that time. But I think our wise move to live in a small town, is truly as wise as we thought. Another benefit of course, is the mingling with other children. As much as I fear the interactions with other parents from time to time, so far there has not been a person at that park I haven’t liked. The kids get along great, so far all respectful of each other, and the parents strike up endless conversations about parent things. A public park is a way to support an entire community, and give way to certain freedoms we all crave.

So thank you, township and people who have donated to it, for installing this wonderful park. It will get much heavy use from our family for sure.

Cheers,

B.K.

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A couple of dads podcasting about being dads! Open your ears for some great stories and conversations about all things we dad's face on a daily basis. Also hots of #AskADad on YouTube.

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