What's Old Is New

"Outings are so much more fun when we can savor them through the children's eyes."- Lawana Blackwell , The Courtship of the Vicar's Daughter, 1998.

Yesterday I took the boys for a short walk to our local YMCA playground. Our Y has recently completed some very expensive renovations, and this was the first time that we had been inside to see them. They have completely redone most of the building, and I have to admit, it was impressive. I'll have to take a full tour sometime without the kids, or with Greg for help so I can actually look around.

Even with these costly improvements to the inside, they have totally neglected the outside playground. The Y playground was actually redone when I was in either 7th or 8th grade...like, 18-20 years ago (how did I get so old?)! I can remember thinking how wonderful it was back then! When I looked at it yesterday, especially in comparison to the indoor renovations, I was struck with how dingy it appeared. My lack of enthusiasm, however, was not mirrored by my children. Jacob was thrilled with the playground! We have only gone there a few times, preferring the elementary school playground over the YMCA, simply because the Y gets very crowded. Because of our infrequency there, it felt like a whole new world for Jacob to conquer!

He ran from one piece of equipment to the other, commenting on the wonder of each of them - the plastic tunnels balanced on tires, the giant "monster truck" tires that had painted platforms (one of which was even broken!). He thought the sea saw was fabulous (it was splintering, with the paint worn off!), not to mention the twisty slide, and long climbing coils (which were paled by sun damage).

I asked him which playground he liked more and he said, "This one, mom. It has a lot of cool stuff." Andrew loved it as well. He enjoyed the baby swing (which was one of the old-style ones, with 4 holes cut into a big plastic hoop. Jacob thought it was meant for two babies to swing together, back to back!), and he went on the teeter totter with Jacob. He would have loved to crawl around too, but the ground was just a little damp and muddy.

I didn't mention my opinion of the place to Jake. Why ruin his perspective with my jaded viewpoints? I did, however, think about our varying ways of thinking. It's a perfect example of how a child sees the world with fresh, innocent eyes. Something that was old and unworthy of attention to me, was the highlight of Jacob's day. I should really listen to him more often. I might be surprised at what he finds intriguing!

Jacob daring himself to go down the twisty slide!

Jacob climbing the coil...actually, he was literally walking up the coil, inch by inch, until I told him he had to either climb it, or we were leaving! (I was waiting on his "one last thing" before we left. Clever, isn't he?!)

Andrew loved the baby swing. I actually think this is the first time he's been in a big swing!

We have to get the kid a swing for our porch for his birthday.