Child's play

I was jogging about a week ago when I noticed a particularly windy storm had knocked one of those backyard playsets down in a nearby neighborhood. Yesterday, I was running along the same route and noticed nobody had bothered to fix it.

It's part of the problem with DIY playsets. I see these overpriced kits (a very small set excluding lumber starts at a few hundred and the sky's the limit on high-end equipment) constructed all over town and see kids playing on them less than 1 percent of the time. What a waste.

I think the monotony is part of the reason for backyard playground failure. Kids like the park because there's always a chance other kids will be there. Sure the swings and the slide are fun, but it gets old after about the hundredth time.

It's also not uncommon to see these sets bordering community parks. That just screams, "We're too important to mingle with whatever commoner might be frequently my neighborhood playground." Also, they fall into disrepair from lack of use, or when a wind storm blows them over.

And people have blight issues with clotheslines.

I say the playground's biggest benefit is it's community building. Kids want to play with other kids! And if you're a stay at home parent, don't tell me you don't crave adult conversation, even if it ends up merely being about your 2-year-old's reluctance to eat anything but bread.

So stop the backyard madness, get out the bikes and ride to the park. You might be surprised what (and how many friends!) you might find there.