New Playthings

For Tyler's 2nd birthday, the husband and I decided he needed a swing set. The primary reason was of course convenience, despite the fact that we had a playground at the elementary school down the street. However, we had a secret agenda because, "quick" trips to the school yard playground down the street were never in fact quick. My son would spend all of this waking hours on a slide if I let him.

Up...slide down...Up...slide down...Up...slide down.

Heaven help me if I had anything else on that day's to-do list. Attempts at removal from the playground always ended in a throw-myself-down, screaming, kicking, fighting tantrum. Which would then draw sideways glances from the other moms that just screamed judgment and thoughts that I was one of "those" moms ::sigh::

So we decided a slide of our very own would save us this personal embarrassment, as well as the opportunity to multi-task our parental duties with relaxing island style with some margaritas on our back deck.

We searched and searched and finally decided on a build-yourself set from the local general store. It was a steal, especially after the set rang up $200 less than the published price.

saweet!

The husband of course was convinced he was super dad and could easily construct such a set with his eyes closed.

Take that next door neighbor who built his kids their own two story "playhouse" coveted by all neighborhood kids from his bare hands with no directions.

However, it turns out that the husband's carpentry skills are actually finite. What he thought would be a easy 10-12hr process, completed with the assistance of my dad, turned into a three day ordeal. Each day it's own production, complete with cuss words, rain delays, mis-cuts, trips to the hardware store, re-builds, several packs of cigarettes and the desire for mass quantities of beer at days end.

Ultimately, the swing set was completed. A collective sigh of relief could be heard echoing against the houses and it stands in the backyard a testament to the will of man for all to see.

That is however, until mom un-boxed grandma's birthday present which is WAY more fun