(Sharon continues her Notes from the Playground series)
I may have mentioned before how great we think the playground is at Wallingford Park. It’s cool that there are two play structures, side by side, so both toddlers and older ones can do their thing, but still mingle. I especially like how the blue squishy stuff underneath it makes me feel so safe, since my son, like most three year olds, has taken his share of tumbles there.
Like the time when he was a year and a half, happily sharing the tire swing with his little buddy Wade. I got to chatting with the other mom as my son appeared to have a good grip on the chains. So I let my attention slip for maybe one, one millionth of a second, and BAM – he lands face down and eats dirt. Apparently, his baby grip was just for show and I didn’t have supermom reflexes after all. I was certain he was headed straight for the ER and was horrified that I was the one to blame. Luckily, a few minutes, many tears and several spits of bark later, he was fine and off running.
Another incident happened on my husband’s watch. Our son was just learning how to climb the ladder and had managed to reach the top by himself. In typical dad fashion, my husband was walking that fine line between helping him learn a new skill and prepping him for the X games. Suddenly, our then two year old fell backwards onto the ground from six, maybe seven, feet up. He bit it again, but this time, landed flat on his back. When I heard about it, my mind conjured up images of paralysis, but again, no real damage was done.
There are, however, a few small things that puzzle me about the design of the playground – the first being those various gaping holes on the highest level of the play structure where kids of all ages run wild and free. Now that our son is nearly four, they don’t faze me much but when he was younger I was constantly playing defense – hands up, knees bent, sliding side to side around the structure, trying to mirror his every move. I was practically “the Glove,” aka, Gary Payton, before he got old and went to LA. I thought it would only be a matter of time before a child just walked right off the edge with all the parents in a half mile radius running over in vain.
The other thing that gets me is the sandbox. It’s like an attractive nuisance of sorts and not just limited to babies and toddlers. Frankly, even adults aren’t immune. Perhaps it’s gotten you too – you can’t escape it. It’s like a tractor beam that pulls you in unknowingly. And what makes it worse is that at first you “think” you’re safe because the squishy stuff beneath you provides a false sense of security. Wrong. Somehow, the squish, the sand and the slope become this lethal cocktail and before you know it, WHAM, you’ve wiped out.
And when I say “wipe-out,” I mean the full meal deal. I’ve seen little cherubs, cheeks ablazin’, squealing in delight as they waddle full speed to the digger, get knocked off their feet faster than you can say blowout. It’s almost worse with the pre-school set because they think they’ve mastered their gross motor skills so it takes a hit on their egos as well as their bottoms. Plus, there’s the added danger that they’ll somehow fall face forward, accidentally hitting their jaw against the metal base of the digger. My heart pounds faster every time I see a kid running near that thing.
The adult spill isn’t quite as epic but feels just as painful. The unexpectedness of it all makes you clench your muscles (which if you’re anything like me, are chronically in need of massage), so when your body compensates by quickly catching itself, you tweak some teeny tiny muscle you never knew existed (and probably haven’t used in a decade) in your lower back or inner thigh. Come to think of it, the same thing happens anywhere in the sandbox where the squishy floor slopes downward – like the entrance perhaps? I’ve seen so many people slip there. But the digger pit presents the biggest hazard since it alone wields sharp metal objects. Ironically, this area is designated for toddlers.
I think the Parks Department must have gotten some complaints, because for a while it seemed like they were trying to remedy the situation by dumping more and more sand around the digger. Unfortunately, the sand got redistributed, seemingly overnight, by a thousand pairs of little hands. I guess it is, after all, a sandbox. I don’t get over to the toddler area as much lately so perhaps it’s better now.
Have we had super-safe playgrounds for years and years, this being the first unsafe playground? I wonder if we’re subjecting our kids to anything unusual, given the full range of human history, with this playground.
Kids will have some falls, they will learn and become stronger because of it.
Advice to the first-timer parents: watch your head. Especially when climbing up anything. Those bars are right at adult noggin level.
Great tunnel slide photo, Mike!
I am a parent of an 18-month-old and I share the same fears about that playground– especially the gaping holes at the top and the Slippery Slope of Death near the digger. It astounds me that someone in playground design managed to overlook these major hazards. I’m all for understanding the inherent risks that come with playgrounds and toddlers, but this seems like an unpleasant law suit waiting to happen. That being said, we also love the park and come frequently.
Never underestimate the power of volunteerism! Take an active role in the maintenance of your park. I served as Chair for the design and construction 1999 to 2003, and 5 years of maintenance following (4000 hours of my time and many tens of hundreds more by dozens of others). Wallyhoodians (??) are great at pitching in. We had a great group of 10 to 12 volunteers that chipped in regularly to make things happen. My kids are now 18 and 13 (crikey!) as are many of the children of others who created what you see. You are not likely to see them in the play area much.
A few comments: Please recall that the play structure is designed for 5 to 12-year-olds. Toddlers should be under adult supervision or use the smaller toddler area. One of the design criteria was to repeat as much as possible the open and free-flowing nature of the previous structure (now THAT was one crazy-cool-risky structure). The openings are to provide access to the climbing activity features. The woodchips are actually engineered to absorb falls safely, but should be turned and fluffed at least annually (the old surface was asphalt but still loved by kids – and they survived!). Parents walked the structure every year to tighten up loose boards, turn the chips, tidy up.
We used to keep a broom and shovel near the toddler play area. Parents would help out while their kids played by sweeping the sand back into the sand area and leveling the area around the digger. What a great example! Kids would help out, too. Yes, one can send an email or make a call, but Parks has zero maintenance funds. Besides it takes less time to simply invest a little sweat-equity… and it’s contagious in a good way. That is how the Park was created and why it is what it is today.
We have gone through a bad time recently at the Park. Trees have been stolen, folks “borrow” a few buckets of sand for their home. We tried to institute a “good neighbor” policy at the park when our work was complete. Parks informed us that they could not tell park-users what to do. Yes, but we can ask!
Tidying up litter, sweeping the sand, turning the woodchips at the play area, not using the field (dogs or humans) when it is a wet, soggy bog, pruning and cleaning the gardens – many were taken on by workparties in years past. All contributed to an improved and safe environment for all the neighborhood to use. Cooperative use.
Our park is a shared resource. Remember back when you shared a house in college? We can all chip in to keep our “living room” safe and tidy. Don’t wait around for “them” to fix it? “We” are “them”. Bring a broom. Make it better.
Greg Flood
Friends of Wallingford Playfield
All for one and one for all. Tree Cheers!
Nancy Merrill
FoWP
Thanks Greg for the background information about the park. I started off this post series by saying how excited my husband and I were about the brand “new” park we had so close by for our growing family. And since then, we’ve spent so much time there, it feels like a second backyard. As such, when I speak of it, it’s almost like talking about family – so all of my observations come from a place of love and humor. 🙂
And I’m assuming I can go out on a limb here and say that many of us in Wallingford would like to extend you (and the rest of the playfield committee) “many many many thanks” for giving so much of your self and time to the park. The good neighboor policy sounds like a great way to keep the park a part of this community in years to come.
PS. I can’t believe trees have been stolen? How/why does that even happen?
Thanks for the info Greg! I just wanted to commiserate with the falls. My son also fell off the chain latter at 2.5 years old, as I answered my cell phone no less, bad mama! Now that he is 4 it is fun to see him climb and jump and run through the structure. See you at the park!