April 17: The Swingset

About 5 years ago, my Dad and I assembled my kids' first backyard play set that we purchased from Toys R Us. Nothing fancy, just your basic starter set - a slide, a few swings, some monkey bars and a very small playhouse on top. Simple and compact. Today, 5 years later, I tore it down. It was no longer in any shape for the kids to play on - the wood was cracking or rotting, the screws and bolts were rusted, and the set was just too small anymore for the kids. There was no saving it either, as even a good sanding and a coat of finish wouldn't have helped. In fact, when the kids used the swings, you could actually see the support beams flexing. A little scary for on-watching parents. Funny, when my Dad and I originally put it together it took us two straight weekends to do the entire thing. It took me two hours to pull it apart. And, I even undid the bolts and screws rather than simply taking a hammer to the wood. Not too shabby, huh? The whole time I could have sworn I heard my Dad's laughter at the irony of the time difference in building it and taking it down. He would have gotten a kick out of this whole experience.