Being a grandparent comes with responsibilities. Supporting our grandkids' parents in their roles as Mommy and Daddy is foremost. Parenting is challenging!
We don't get to see our grandchildren (and their parents) as often as we'd like. Nell (going on 3) and Reece (4 months) live in St. Louis some 5-plus hours from DSM. Since it's much easier for us to drive to their place than it is for them to haul 2 kids, 2 dogs, and their gear here. As Nell has reached the age where it's fun to take her places to experience new and fun things. Reece won't reach the active stage for a while yet, but it's coming!
So another grandparental responsibility is for me to BOLO (Be On The Lookout - thanks True Crime Blogs for the acronym) for kiddo activities. These days as I travel around the Des Moines Metro area, I take a mental inventory of which places I would like to take the kids to visit.
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| Our yard in Atlantic |
The first category is playgrounds. They're usually free and are everywhere! I learned this as a kid myself, and then as a parent. Our yard at my childhood home in Atlantic was my first play area. We had a solid swing set with 2 swings and a glider, a sandbox (no lid so a/k/a catbox), and a cute little playhouse that my grandfather, a contractor, had his crew built and hauled to our large backyard. Later I got a tetherball for my birthday - installed in concrete in our backyard.
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| Slide from my era |
Our grade school playground was pretty basic - big sling swings and monkey bars. The small blacktop outside of the two playground doors in the K-6th grade school. There were painted 4-Square games on the blacktop. There was a kickball field outside the older kid's wing. I'll never forget how far Joanie Troll kicked that oversized rubber ball every time she was up to "bat".
Sunnyside Park was the only real non-school playground that I remember. It's a large park with various play areas. In the 1960s someone donated a bunch of cash to install new playground equipment - a big slide - the hot wavy steel kind. And various types of swings and riding toys. There was an update to the equipment near the pool when I was around 12. The city installed a "Barrel of Fun" - a giant barrel on its side that rolled like a hamster wheel. After someone decided it would be fun to roll over the top of the barrel - only to break an arm, the park people built a roof over it - preventing a repeat. All playground equipment today is safer than the stuff we recreated on - swinging gates, and merry-go-rounds. The spinning stuff (like the swinging gate) was popular and nausea-inducing.
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| Jud on a "killer" merry go round |
Taking children to playgrounds as an adult is fun. We lived in Creston for 26 years. Amy and Jud loved the big park there -McKinley Park, on the west side of town near the pool. The old north playground there was definitely in the "not so safe" category. Heavy glider animals on a swingset frame guaranteed one of the kids would run in front of one in use. Bam! The wooden swinging bridge was fun for Jud to run on, util it wasn't. No broken bones - just bumps and bruises.
Amy and Jud loved the giant wooden structure built in neighboring Corning. Our dog Moki like going down slides like the one in tiny Ellston, Iowa. Our children were great at spying playgrounds on road trips - like the one in Kearney, Nebraska - near the Cabela's Store and on the way to Colorado. When visiting Atlantic, a new play area at Washington School was a good place to take the children when they needed to expend some energy.
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| Nell swinging |
I had few reasons to visit playgrounds for 20 years or so. Welcoming a grandchild into our lives has changed that. Our granddaughter Nell loves to swing! And climb and slide. Infant grandson Reece will no doubt be a fan of play areas shortly. Our "hood", West Des Moines is adding so many recreation opportunities. The city built a huge RecPlex on West Grand - indoor hockey rinks, gyms, a track, and lots of outdoor fields. Dave and Busters is nearly complete. A huge indoor water park is now in the works just south of our place. There are playgrounds galore and splash parks.
Iowa doesn't have mountains or many lakes. Let us be the state of excellent parks with playgrounds, bike trails, water trails, skate parks, and other outdoor recreation. Swinging is therapeutic!
