No Fear

We are fortunate in that we live about 10 minutes from three different elementary school playgrounds, and one huge community playground. Samuel and I have been going to a different one each afternoon, trying to enjoy as much outside playtime as we can before it gets too cold.

The favorite playground at the moment is at Aboite Elementary School (As a side note, that word is pronounced "a-boy-t". The other day I asked Samuel if he wanted to go to the Aboite playground and he said "I can go there. I'm a boy!")

There is a whole section of Aboite playground that is fenced in and has swings and slides appropriate for little kids. Does Samuel want to go there? No. He wants to go to the other section - the one for the older elementary school kids. Still, even at the bigger kid section, there are some parts of the equipment that can climb on himself. Here he is having fun in a tunnel:

But fun in the tunnel only lasts for a few minutes because what he really wants is to go down the slide. What slide is that, you ask? One that is safe and meant for small kids, like this one?

No.

One that is bigger and probably still looks huge to a 2-year old, like this one?

No.

Toddler Knievel wants to go down this one:

I don't think you should be allowed to go down this slide unless you are old enough to drive YOURSELF to this playground.

But of course he wants to go down it. Which means we BOTH are going down it, because there is no way I'm letting him go up there by himself. And once we get to the top and slide down, it's fun. But helping him up that huge ladder, and worrying that he is going to go through one of those giant openings on the side (look at the spaces between those slats!) is nerve-wracking, to say the least. The kid has absolutely no fear.