Sand

I just finished taking down the wood play set.  I have been meaning to do that for years but just could not bring myself to do until the last couple of weeks.  We finally decided that should be a garden area instead of a shrine.

In a flash of brilliance, I decide to put in a path the entire length of the yard to use up the sand in the play area.  It is a really long, wide path.  I got carried away digging the path out and I have a long, deep path and I am starting to wonder if I am going to have enough sand. 

When we first put the play set it, I was overly concerned that you would break your heads. Neither of you were the kind of kids that would swing or play in any kind of a normal way.  You looked at the play set as more of a challenge, a thing to conquer.  It was not unusual to walk past the window and catch a glimpse of you flying off the thing in one heart stopping way or another.

So, every couple of years I would put more sand in the play set area.  I am not sure how many times I did this but I found out I probably have enough sand for 4 or 5 walks.  The sand in the play area is over a foot deep in most area's.  You probably could have jumped out of an airplane and there would have been enough sand to break your fall. 

And if you wonder why a person who is as technically handicapped as me is blogging Dad Wisdom..well that kinds of explains it.  With this blog I am still trying to put more sand down so you don't break your heads. 

Before you actually have kids you plan how you are going to raise them.  When you actually have them, everything pretty much gets thrown out the window.  If you read this, the easiest answer seems like if you saw a kid doing those heart stopping jumps off of a play set you'd just tell a kid to cut it out.  There are really only 2 choices, yell or add more sand.  When you see a couple of kids with that much heart there is really only 1 choice...add more sand. 

I used all of the wood to build a planter and a planter bench.  It took forever because I had to salvage the wood.  I like the idea of the wood play set getting another life in the garden.  I am planning other projects to use the sand, there is still a lot of it left. 

I am always going to be the Dad that adds more sand.  Not because I am so wonderful (although I am), it is because of the way you both treat the challenges in your life.  You will always fly off of some barrier in that same heart stopping way you always have.

I will start to promise to recycle the sand.  I can't promise to not keep adding it.

Love Dad