Pages

5.28.2014

the short and happy life of our trampoline

I'm not even entirely sure how we ended up with a trampoline.  Last summer there was a truck that arrived with a collection of pipes and mesh.  It is or was - I'm not sure, as possession of it, as I said, is shrouded in mystery - my good buddy Lexi's, but then it ended up in my garage needing safe haven and a few patching repairs.  The trampoline itself is over twenty years old.  Lexi jumped on it as a child.  And now my children jump on it.

 photo 4ffb9a18-2580-4a1b-b95d-5252877ca281.jpg

 photo 89edecf6-b745-4c84-9dec-f0fefdda0a4f.jpg

 photo 89bcfaf5-8d43-4fc1-ae7b-9c9d07b49a14.jpg

 photo 345f30ea-f653-4b10-bd3c-d9124f6aad7a.jpg

 photo b33df800-0cad-43e1-b2e6-f2b4dfff6cfa.jpg

As my neighbor said ominously, as he watched The Man put up the trampoline, 'Oh, now you've gone and done it.'  He went on to say that trampolines attract random kids like shit attracts flies.  And, unsurprisingly, he is right.  We have discovered, as thousands of parents have discovered before us, that while the trampoline is great fun, there is a fairly high risk factor for the jumpers. Personally, I believe that risk can be managed successfully, especially if your children value their unbroken bodies and do not act like jackasses. Unfortunately, that can't be said of the neighborhood kids, so the trampoline will have a shorter than expected stay in our backyard this summer. We have a few more days with it - along with some heavy supervision by myself and The Man - and then it will go back into the garage for a spell or find perhaps find a place where it is less likely that I will have to stand by and nag fifty kids to please, damnit, follow the few, simple frickin' rules we've put into place for your own bloody safety. 

Instead of degenerating into a rant about personal responsibility and the inability of kids these days to manage their own risk, I'm just going to sign off and go take some more pictures of the kids jumping while the neighbor kids peek through the fence, looking forlorn, now that they've been forbidden to bounce. Having to limit who gets to jump wasn't a fun decision, but becoming a raving lunatic trying to manage a million kids is even less appealing.  

4 comments:

  1. It amazes me to think kids will randomly play on/with someone else's toys. We had a swing set in our front yard and a tire swing in our side yard, and I was always surprised (and annoyed) when I would see kids (bigger kids who should know better) playing on our stuff.

    As a kid, I would NEVER had just wandered into someones yard to play on their toys. Hang out in a cemetery spying on people? Yes. Use peoples yards without permission? Nope.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Have you been on the trampoline yourself? Now that's a workout!! I can only make it about 10 mins, but I'm old.

    We've had ours for 6 years, not an injury yet. But we have strict rules and don't let just any brat on it. Any horseplay and you're outta there. No second chancies. My husband works in property insurance, too many people willing to sue over minor childhood injuries now.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Spying in public places doesn't require special equipment or a waiver form so I say go for it, Tina. If you write down what you see, then it's social science. Or paranormal science - depending on what you see in the cemetery I suppose.

    Susan, we are probably a bit too nice, we often give second and third chances. Well, we did, until we kicked everybody off. Which makes us a little less nice but less likely to have somebody's parent come back with a lawsuit.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yeah, my husband is an insurance adjuster/property claims. People are so sue-happy these days.

    ReplyDelete