It's a slippery slide...

Oh, to be a kid again. There are many things from my childhood that I miss.  Things change and the fun of old yesteryear is not the same as today. There is a country song that says something to the effect of, "we didn't wear helmets, and we still survived."  This is true, I never wore a helmet when I rode a bike, but as my older brother once said that the ones that didn't "survive" so much aren't really here to tell their side of the story.  So, our kids wear helmets, and elbow pads, and knee pads, and wrist guards, and.....I can't really think of anything else.  Oh yeah, they ride in car seats and booster seats until they are 4'9" or 8 years old.  I remember holding my little sister on my lap from California to Utah...oh yeah, it happened. I am not complaining about the new laws or requirements, or safety measures.  In fact, I agree with them quite heavily.  

It is the playgrounds that I miss the most.  I miss the thrill of spinning so fast on a merry-go-round that you never knew if you were actually going to fly off, throw up, or survive long enough to want to spin again.  I loved it when my dad would spin the ole merry-go-round, because he could spin it faster than anyone.  When no adult was around, or willing to spin, we would run and run until we could no longer run, and then jump as best we could to get on to the spinning puke machine.  Playgrounds when I was a kid were all about the danger, which as a child equaled fun.  And I was by no means what one would consider a brave child.  The swings, the teeter-totter, the moon walk, the tire walls, the monkey bars...most of these exciting equipment features are missing from today's playground.  

My sister was more easily pleased; she loved the slippery slides.  Wherever we went if someone saw a slide from the road, my dad would stop and KM would jump out of the car and run to the slide.  There was one in particular that she loved.  It was the tallest slide that I have ever seen in my life.  I can't even imagine how tall it was, but it was probably a 10-minute hike up the ladder to the top. Ok, that might be an exaggeration, but when your 10 it sure feels that long.  I remember being a bit afraid of it because I am so terrified of heights.  Now, my own child follows in the love for playgrounds, and especially slides...maybe he was supposed to be KM's.

While at a park on Saturday, I was disappointed to see that the entire playground consisted of 3 slides conjoined by the same set of stairs, that was it. I was even further disappointed by the warning sign that stated that the playground was meant for children between the ages of 5 and 12 only.  I knew that Fuss was going to be able to stay away for the entire duration of our family reunion, which was the reason that we were at this particular park.  (I know...another family reunion!) So, I climbed the stairs to the top of the highest slide with him, and then very trustingly placed my little Fuss in the arms of my 6-year-old nephew. I didn't know what to expect because we had tried this before, but he didn't like it so much.  This time Fuss loved the slide. It was only a matter of minutes before he decided it was something he wanted to do again and again and again and again and again....and you would think that I would get tired of taking pictures of all of these slide rides, but I didn't.  I would have taken more had we had more time.  The realization came to me that my son really is growing up faster than I want him to when he started to climb the stairs on his own, position himself on the slide on his own, go down the slide on his own, and then turn around and get himself off the slide...on his own.  Good thing I had my camera to keep me busy.  I kept thinking, "He is too little for this. He isn't 5! He is 15 months...that is a big difference! And according to the manufactures instructions, I have 4 more years before he should even be allowed to do this." Try explaining that to a 1-year-old...Every time he went to climb the stairs, I had a mini heart attack.  Every time he was trying to balance himself into the tube slide, which became his favorite, I had a mini heart attack.  The stairs had a railing on only 1 side.  The slides were too high for a 1-year-old to encounter on his own.  It didn't matter...he was on his own as far as he was concerned, and he was not about to accept help once he had it figured out.  I found myself wishing that harnesses for the measly playground equipment of today were required. And I wonder, how did we survive?  Even more importantly, how did our parents survive? 

As we watched the kids go down the slide time after time, my sister, Gillette, thought that it looked like they were having fun, so she decided to join them.  There is nothing like watching a woman who is 6 feet tall slide through a 7 foot tube slide on her stomach. When we could see her feet at the beginning and her head at the end, it reminded me of some sort of circus trick. Especially when she emerged with her 3-year-old daughter on her back.  Oh, to pretend to be a kid again... So, my point...we do all we can to protect our children, but it will never be enough. Eventually they will have to go on their own, and climb to the top of the big slide, take the ride, and hope that we are at the bottom to catch them.