Play

When a local publication asked our family to visit and review local playgrounds, my kids immediately and adamantly nominated the pirate ship playground! Their favorite public park, a park where I took them many mornings while they were babies, toddlers, and beyond, features an oversized wooden pirate ship, complete with telescopes, rope bridges connecting its levels, spinning wheels, and an eagles nest with the only way down by taking one of two spiral slides to the bottom. Years ago, we lived much closer to the pirate ship and were overdue for a visit. On our drive over, we begin to reminisce about the neighborhood, our old house, even the ship itself.

“Which one of you did I have to rescue from the eagles nest?," I ask looking into the rearview mirror honestly not remembering which child it was who cried and held up the slide line. My daughter raises her hand in the backseat as the culprit, now seeming very grown-up with her long ponytail and adult teeth taking shape. Yes, it was her who I had to climb and rescue at eight months pregnant, and in the August heat I don’t let her forget. I was pregnant with that one sitting next to her, with his blonde hair hanging in his eyes, wearing an Underarmour t-shirt. Underarmour? Shouldn’t he be in Osh-Kosh?

We park, they run off, they climb, they seem so much bigger than the last time we visited. Now they don’t take naps, can tie their own shoes, and don’t need me to help them find their footing on the ladder. Now I sit and watch comfortably as they weave in and out of children, fly down the slides, and laugh with my oldest that that the slides are not as high as he remembered, or that the pirate ship looks less realistic to him now. I laugh, but also break a little inside too.

This day, the park is a bit crowded, but I find a shady spot, watch young mothers with their strollers and bottles, hear a crying baby here and there, and enjoy watching the different ways kids climb the twisty pole, how parents either helicopter or watch from a distance, take a phone call here and there, how many times kids touch base with their parents or never touch base at all. I see two older women walking on the pathway encircling the play area. They talk and walk right in step. And yes, there is also a toddler who is brave enough to climb to the eagles nest but not brave enough to slide down. Remembering my task at hand, I was supposed to be reviewing and making notes about the actual playground itself. Restroom availability? Shade? Parking? Access ramps? Safety of the neighborhood? Cleanliness? Functionality? Instead I can’t help but observe interactions and people; how a place to play unites us all- an outdoor space that young and old, boy and girl, can find an escape to run, wiggle, imagine, and be free.

Our final verdict on our drive home? The pirate ship playground (it does have a proper name by the way) is and will always be our favorite playground in town, and although it has become more popular, more crowded, needs a little TLC here and there, we unequivocally recommend and give five stars. Who doesn’t love a pirate ship? But we left also realizing it’s important to take a step back from homework, errands,  and deadlines, to simply play; a simple and necessary thing we all need in our lives. We are never too (fill in the blank) to play.