Last monday (nearly two weeks ago now), our new Cedarworks playset arrived in 18 large boxes, 1 slide, 1 pole, and 1 large bucket of bolts and other hardware. I had just cleaned the garage out so we could fit the delivery. The weather had been iffy and it wasn't clear when we'd be able to start building. The following Sunday looked promising so I put out the call for help and Ann and I paced around the yard trying to figure out where the best spot would be. The problem is that our yard slopes down towards the house and you need these things to be level so they don't... well... fall over.

Sunday came and only one person was available to help. Thankfully, Jay is, among other things, a contractor. With his help (who am I kidding -- with Jay doing much of the work) we got the basic structure of the gazebo standing along with the first level floor done by Sunday evening. This included digging under the uphill side so that the structure stands level on the hill that is our yard.

Monday, Ann and I hurt and took the day off.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, Ann and I worked solo and managed to get the second level deck up, the chin bar and rope and pole up, the side walls, and the trap door and inside ladder together. We also added the long structure support on the gazebo on the swing side (to keep it from tipping when swinging is happening). This also involved digging to make sure the support lies flat.

On Thursday, I got the slide up and discovered that in order for it to sit flat on the upper deck, the end has to be about 4 feet in the air. While Jack loved the idea of launching off the end of the slide, I did not like the thought of broken legs and angry neighbor parents. Luckily, Jay was able to come by to lend his expertise and he figured out that if we remove the large block under the top of the slide and move it to the bottom of the slide, it won't be unreasonably high yet still be secure. Ann and I will also be putting in a nice pile of wood chips at the base to provide a softer landing spot (in fact, we'll be putting wood chips all around the structure when we do our landscaping work, the next big yard project). Jay also helped us get the swing side up and attached.

Friday, Ann and I finished it -- adding all the remaining structure supports (more digging!), the front booster step, handles, the crow's nest, steering wheel, bucket and rope, telescope, roof, and flag (yes! it has a flag!).

Needless to say, Jack is over the moon about this. He has been having so much fun with this set that he has been falling asleep during the nightly bedtime story which, at the moment, is Taran Wanderer by Lloyd Alexander, a book he is deeply into.

You can see more pictures during and after construction here.

Got kids? Come on over and have some margaritas and let the kids play!

Tags: construction, handyman, home improvement, DIY, playtime, yardwork, Cedarworks

The other day, as I was driving home from somewhere with Jack in the back of the car, we spotted the neighbors at the end of the street outside with their son, two years younger than Jack, but one of his favorite people to play with all the same. I stopped and rolled down the window to speak to the Mom and Jack rolled down his to speak to his friend. Before I knew it, he was out of the car and running across the yard laughing. She said it was fine and I said I'd be back after I put the groceries away.

As I lifted the bags into the house I marveled at how strange it was that I was not with Jack. I completely trust the neighbors, it's not that. It's just that we've never really done that. We have arranged playdates where we drop him off and come back later, but never anything ad hoc like that.

It got me to thinking about how at his age, 7 going on 8, I was always out by myself. I would wake in the morning and get on my bike and go up and down our street looking for people to come out and play with me. I would come home at lunch and dinner but otherwise filled my days out on my own or with friends. Sometimes we would sneak into the nearby golf course. Sometimes we crawled through the storm drain pipes that lead down to the river. But we never strayed far. I wondered when society changed so much. When did we stop letting our kids out of our sights? When did we become so protective?

If I tell Jack to go outside and play in the back yard (something we rarely did before installing The Fence) he invariably sulks and says that he'd be bored and couldn't we come outside and play with him? Even indoors, if he isn't watching TV, he wants us to play with him.

Today, Ann sent me a link to an article in the Boston Globe which talks to all of this directly. "Sheltered Lives: When did kids stop playing outdoors?" by Jenna Russell talks about the research by Roger Hart, a brit who went and spoke to children back in the day and again today. He is producing a movie about this and I eagerly await its release.

I wish there was a way to give Jack much more freedom yet retain our sense of his safety. Maybe the answer is to let go and allow the greater (possibly perceived?) risk. But then again, knowing what we know about the world around us, I don't think we could do that. I don't really know the answers but this is something I want to raise with our neighbors with kids. Maybe we can come up with something together that benefits all of our children.

Tags: Childhood, playtime