This week marked Mrs T’s debut appearance at the playground – a rite of passage, surely, for any child. That first tentative glance down the slide as they cautiously edge their bottom closer to the start of the shoot; nerves turning to sheer elation as, gasping, they reach the bottom. Then, there is that first, heady dizziness of the first time on a swing, unsteadily rocking back and forth, the breeze whistling past their face.
At ten months old I can’t guarantee that was exactly my daughter’s experience on her first visit to the playground but it was, without doubt, an event worth recording (even if only to show off some super cute pictures).
Public playgrounds seem to have upped their game since I was a young lady (or lass as my husband would say). Back in the eighties they were few and far between, those in existence consisting only of a few rusty swings, a rickety slide and roundabout (well, where I lived anyway). Now public playgrounds constitute a plethora of exciting apparatus centred around fancy climbing frames. Back when I frequented such places, playgrounds either had simple concrete flooring (not ideal) or there was the soggy, rain soaked wood chips which were all the rage. Now, a spongy rubber surface is the ‘safe’ (and, I suspect, more hygienic) material of choice.
Although still a bit too young to fully appreciate the excitement a playground brings, Mrs T had a really fun time along her friend Charles. If anything, there were plenty of children surrounding her who she could happily stare at.
As she is still not mobile and very small for her age I kept to the basics: slide and swing. With the former, she seemed a little confused by the whole thing and the full impact perhaps lost as I was holding her the whole time so it wasn’t the most adrenaline filled slide experience.
The swing though was a winner. A cautious, slightly nervous look on her face soon turned to a broad smile of joy and elation as she ‘flew’ through the air. I was amazed at how quickly she started to move her bottom in time to the rocking of the swing to effectively swing herself. Clever girl. She also got the hang of clinging to the front bars on the swing. At just 15Ibs and with rather dainty features she is still a bit little to go fast enough to generate squeals of joy but she really enjoyed it and watched, transfixed, as her friend Charles went a bit quicker, and higher, on the swing next to her.
The playground will undoubtedly be featuring prominently in our lives in the coming weeks, months and years. It is going to be exciting to see her figure out how to use each individual piece of playground equipment. On this occasion, her premiere visit, I suspect It was ME who enjoyed it a bit more than she did.
