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conulyOr the lack thereof.
Now, every time it comes up about people not having this type of playground equipment or that type of playground equipment in their area, it's all "oh, oh, oversafety".
And I have no doubt that misguided safety concerns lead to the boringification of many playgrounds. (REALLY misguided safety concerns. If you make the playground "safe", kids just play less safely, resulting in a net loss of, well, safety.)
But this specific person complained that playgrounds in preschools near her were cramped and small... and also, lacked swings. If they're small and cramped, they probably don't have room for swings. Swings require a lot of space, and only a few children can use them at any one time. If you're short on space, better to use something that many children can play on at once, and that allows for greater scope in play.
Especially in a preschool, where having swings means you need people to help the children on the swings.
At any rate, the conversation revealed something interesting. I mentioned, after several comments about kids running in front of swings and getting bonked in the head, that I thought that sounded just weird. Don't all swingsets in playgrounds have fences around them to prevent this from happening?
Apparently not, and many people said they'd never seen such a thing. Which strikes me, like I said, as weird. It's the norm, possibly even the law for NYC playgrounds! What's it like where you are?
Also on that blog is this link on lunchtime notes. Now, it's always amused me that whenever it's something that the person in question did as a kid or does with their kids it's quite all right, but when it's something Those Other Folks do it's a sign of the apocalypse.
And this can go both ways. Class birthday parties are anti-free range and spoiling children because GOD, can't kids go on in the school day without that silliness? Not having class birthday parties is anti-free range and cruel to children because GOD, did it ever hurt any of us? Leashes are cruel and restrictive. Hand-holding is cruel and restrictive. Teaching your kid to stand by your side is cruel and restrictive. Letting your child run around is cruel to everybody else and stupid. And don't get me started on Santa.
No, no matter what position you commonly take in whatever broader argument you're currently fighting, any individual child-raising practice can be neatly slotted in on your side or theirs, and extolled or demonized as you see fit.
In this case, notes in lunchboxes (except very rarely) are hovering and helicopterish.
Now, I agree, that the pre-printed notes mentioned are sappy and dumb. It's a lunchbox note, not an affirmation. Sending in a note saying "I love you unconditionally" is a good way to get your kid teased, and sending in a note saying that that you purchased ready-made is a good way to confuse your child. "Dad loves me, but not enough to write four words on a piece of paper?"
But I don't think that writing a note, even daily, is going to warp your child's individuality. I mean, it's not like they're bringing their kids home every day for an hour-long lunch with Mom, a newfangled idea that my mother grew up with. Oh. Wait. Right! Lunchbox notes are hovering and unprecedented, but much greater parental involvement at lunch in the past goes unmentioned, probably because it doesn't fit in with this image.
Now, every time it comes up about people not having this type of playground equipment or that type of playground equipment in their area, it's all "oh, oh, oversafety".
And I have no doubt that misguided safety concerns lead to the boringification of many playgrounds. (REALLY misguided safety concerns. If you make the playground "safe", kids just play less safely, resulting in a net loss of, well, safety.)
But this specific person complained that playgrounds in preschools near her were cramped and small... and also, lacked swings. If they're small and cramped, they probably don't have room for swings. Swings require a lot of space, and only a few children can use them at any one time. If you're short on space, better to use something that many children can play on at once, and that allows for greater scope in play.
Especially in a preschool, where having swings means you need people to help the children on the swings.
At any rate, the conversation revealed something interesting. I mentioned, after several comments about kids running in front of swings and getting bonked in the head, that I thought that sounded just weird. Don't all swingsets in playgrounds have fences around them to prevent this from happening?
Apparently not, and many people said they'd never seen such a thing. Which strikes me, like I said, as weird. It's the norm, possibly even the law for NYC playgrounds! What's it like where you are?
Also on that blog is this link on lunchtime notes. Now, it's always amused me that whenever it's something that the person in question did as a kid or does with their kids it's quite all right, but when it's something Those Other Folks do it's a sign of the apocalypse.
And this can go both ways. Class birthday parties are anti-free range and spoiling children because GOD, can't kids go on in the school day without that silliness? Not having class birthday parties is anti-free range and cruel to children because GOD, did it ever hurt any of us? Leashes are cruel and restrictive. Hand-holding is cruel and restrictive. Teaching your kid to stand by your side is cruel and restrictive. Letting your child run around is cruel to everybody else and stupid. And don't get me started on Santa.
No, no matter what position you commonly take in whatever broader argument you're currently fighting, any individual child-raising practice can be neatly slotted in on your side or theirs, and extolled or demonized as you see fit.
In this case, notes in lunchboxes (except very rarely) are hovering and helicopterish.
Now, I agree, that the pre-printed notes mentioned are sappy and dumb. It's a lunchbox note, not an affirmation. Sending in a note saying "I love you unconditionally" is a good way to get your kid teased, and sending in a note saying that that you purchased ready-made is a good way to confuse your child. "Dad loves me, but not enough to write four words on a piece of paper?"
But I don't think that writing a note, even daily, is going to warp your child's individuality. I mean, it's not like they're bringing their kids home every day for an hour-long lunch with Mom, a newfangled idea that my mother grew up with. Oh. Wait. Right! Lunchbox notes are hovering and unprecedented, but much greater parental involvement at lunch in the past goes unmentioned, probably because it doesn't fit in with this image.
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no subject
Date: 2011-10-08 07:20 am (UTC)Yeah, I grew up in a dangerous time.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-08 07:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-08 07:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-08 07:42 am (UTC)At any rate, because I'm used to it I think it's just plain common sense and a reasonable safety measure. I'm sure the people who aren't used to it think it's silly.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-08 07:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-08 07:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-08 07:51 am (UTC)Or I'll be swinging on the swings because damn it, I haven't had swingset time for like ten years and I want some.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-08 08:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-08 09:54 am (UTC)LOL, I'm obviously a grandma, or more precisely a pre-grandma, longing for grandchildren of my own, so I am free to ogle pregnant ladies' bellies as much as I want.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-08 03:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-09 09:50 am (UTC)*sigh* I remember the best-ever swing, tied far out on a high, high branch, with a big wide board - once I got it up to full swing (standing up of course) I could also get it spinning. I spent hours and hours of my last two years of high school on that swing.
They can boringify all the playgrounds, but there's always gonna be trees, ropes, and adventurous young engineers to put them together in creatively perilous ways.
no subject
Date: 2011-10-08 12:26 pm (UTC)Fortified swingsets?
Date: 2011-10-09 01:47 am (UTC)And earlier this year we were on a picnic and there was a wooden playset/jungle gym/etc. assemblage--the swings were not fenced off, and the slings were fine for my somewhat-larger-than-average hips. (The slide was a little flimsy, though I could find no weight limits printed on the labels.)
Re: Fortified swingsets?
Date: 2011-10-09 02:17 am (UTC)