More “Staycation” Fun: Building Brady’s Playset
So as our “staycation” continued, Wednesday (and sadly, Thursday) were designated as Brady’s playset day(s). A few weeks back, Sarah found a great deal on a backyard swingset which we thought would be great for Brady. He’s quite the sensory kid (which many kids with autism become), enjoying big movement and rough play (especially on daddy’s gnarly, vacation beard!). Here’s the key to Sarah’s “great deal”... we had to assemble it. And by “we” did I mean Sarah and I… hahaha of course not.
She did however send reinforcements. Her dad and brother. Wednesday at 8:30am we cracked open the first of two massive boxes. By 8:57pm, we had assembled something that looked like the pictures on the box—-of 27 assembly steps we’d finished 22. How we got there was a trip in itself…A few hours into the endeavor I read what the company said to allow for construction time: 16 hours! This would be backbreaking hell, right?
Nah. We were the most cooperative trio of worker bees ever. We shared tools, hustled, covered for each other for bathroom or water breaks. And about halfway through the afternoon… the Bradster came out to visit—he stomped on the pieces we’d finished and stared curiously at his daddy sitting in a “treehouse” with an inkpen in his mouth, hammer in hand, confused look on face. It was a shot of life—-a reminder of what we were working for.
And by Thursday morning—-27 hours after we started… 15 hours of labor complete… we finished. It’s a beautiful swingset and something to look at in my barren, brutally ugly backyard. The Bradster already loves it. He’s been down the slide and rode on the glider. His smile and curiosity were worth every hour of “connect slot AB into Joist L with 1’ 1’‘2/3 inch Hex Bolts, angled to corner.“
Lesson learned—-we pull together for our kids. We endure long days, splinters, a black thumb (thanks to a direct blow from a hammer), all to give kids the joy they deserve. For kids like Brady, we’ll work days, weeks, months to draw out those smiles.
