Playground fun

Our family loves playgrounds! We live in a condo with no yard or even really grassy space that is our own. We make due with what we have, play with a lot of sidewalk chalk, blow bubbles and take the soccer ball down to the "common area". We even make boundaries in a far corner of the parking lot sometimes so the kids can "safely" ride thier "bikes". But more often than not, if it's nice out, we go to a playground.

We have a few favs in the area, and they all have their own special names. The kids and Daddy would say that the blue flag playground is their fav. It's over in Northampton on Hatboro Road. They have a really cool slide with rollers that Miss M and JB just go up and down, up and down. They also like the pirate playground which is over in Newtown by Goodnoe Elem. There is a cool pirate ship as part of the equipment plus there are lots of fields to just run free in. Miss M is a wanderer, she just loves to roam around in a field of grass finding treasures and talking to whomever will listen! JB is more of a climber, he wants to be where the action is. My fav is what we call, the little playground. It's by the old Chancellor Street school and it is small. I like it because it is completely fenced in (I can't lose anyone) the equipment is small and spread out nicely (I can't lose anyone) and it's very well taken care of. A bathroom and a shade tree would make it the perfect place to play in my book :)

There are many others we go to, some are strictly when Daddy is with us playgrounds, some are when we don't mind getting dirty playgrounds, and some are great with a friend.

It is during all of these playground trips that I get to do one of my favorite things...people watch. And people watching moms with young children is hysterical and infuriating all at the same time. My friend Dana and I often go to the playground in the mall during the winter months. We often ask each other, "at what point will we be the mom that is sitting on the bench, texting not paying any attention to our children?" I've come to the conclusion that I may never be that mom. I worry to much that my kid is pushing another, eating the woodchips, getting knocked over by a swing, or following a complete stranger off the playground. Call me a worry wart...I'll take the title!

I laughed at some Newtown moms the other day. Now technically I am a Newtown mom but I don't really fit the stereotype, at least not the one I have conjured up in my own head. These moms were dressed to the hilt, as were their little darlings. They were talking about vacation homes, pre-school teachers that have the nerve to tell their children to wear coats when it's cold, and best of all...complaining about the church bells! Yes, the playground is across from a tiny, old historical church in Newtown. At noon the bells rang out...Amazing Grace...one mom said "can you believe those bells are playing music like that, can't we complain to someone?" I'm sure they would prefer something by some little teeny bopper that tells our girls to talk sassy and dress sassier.

Oh well...we enjoyed our morning at the playground anyway...I think those moms need some sprinkles in their Starbucks lattes :)