The end of the Swing Set

I just bought a new swing set last year called the "Flexible Flyer". When Dennis expressed his doubts that it would hold up for 5 kids, I pointed to the picture on the box and and showed him the picture of five happy children swinging on the swing set. I also pointed out that it was called "The Flexible Flyer". So that would mean that the bars would flexible, right?

One would think so, but the swing set has gone through a lot of use over the months. It has broken a few times already; the seat on the glider broke off the day after we bought it (that made me mad!) and then a few months later the entire glider fell off the swing set. Not long after that, one of the legs broke off of the slide, making it unusable. One would think that that would mean we would get rid of the swing set, wouldn't one? Nope. 'Cause if you get a new swing set, one needs money to buy one.

I took this picture the day before the swing set broke for good. It was raining that day.

Then the other day, after swinging on the swing set, the kids came in to tell me that the swing set was acting funny. They told me it kept "jumping up" whenever they would swing. Thinking they meant that the legs were coming out of the cement, I wasn't too worried, because out of all our swing set problems, that has been one we could live with as long as the kids didn't swing too high. I just told the kids to stay off of it until Daddy had a chance to cement it down again.

Later, I looked out the window and saw that the bar on top (the one that holds the swings up) was popping up on one of the ends. Again, I wasn't too worried because it looked like an easy fix but told the kids again to stay off of it for now.

Then we did errands and pretty much forgot about the swing set. Later, as I was checking email on the computer, I suddenly remember the swing set as I was listening to the kids play outside and heard a big crash and then screams and crying. Immediately I remembered and knew what happened, and without even stopping to look out the bedroom window (it faces the backyard), I ran through the house to the sun room where Max and Luke came in the house screaming and looking terrified.

The entire swing set collapsed on top of them.

Ok, not the entire swing set, but the upper bar, which is pretty much the backbone of the whole thing. And the bar fell right on top of Max's head.

 

Imagine an iron bar that weighs about 20-30 pounds crashing down on your head.

Thankfully, it was only Luke and Max swinging at the time, and while of course I wish they didn't get hurt, I'm just glad it wasn't all four of them swinging, like it normally is or things probably would have been a lot worse.

As it was, the bar nicked Luke in the head but mostly, he got tangled up in the swings. He scraped his elbow but was mostly just shook up.

Max got it directly on the head; featuring two large goose eggs. One on the forehead and one on the head where you couldn't see it because of his hair, but you could feel it. They were both shook up bad but I was worried more for Max; I couldn't get him to calm down with his crying, and then he went into a zone where he wasn't talking right or seem to understand me. I told him to go on the computer, to distract him. It took some talking to get him to do it--believe me, that's saying something because Max loves any excuse to get on the computer!

I felt horrible about the whole thing. The problem with your kids getting hurt is you always find an area where you are to blame. I should have gone outside to check the swing set. I should have remembered to make the kids stay off of it. I should have, I should have.

Now you are probably thinking, "you should have brought Max in for a CAT Scan." Well, that is one area I think I did the right thing. I did think about bringing him in just to make sure all was well, but he was so shook up and so much in a shock that I didn't want to further traumatize him with bringing him to the hospital for tests, just for things to probably turn out okay. I decided to "wait and watch", asking him every so often how he was feeling, watching for sleepiness or any sort of vision change. After a computer turn, he seemed to be back to his old self, complaining only of a head ache. 

The excitement here just never ends. 

It took some coaxing, but I begged talked Dennis into making us a swing set out of wood. I knew that the swing set was unfixable and even if it was fixable, I didn't trust it anymore. The "Flexible Flyer" was not so flexible after all. 

I had to have the kids help in coaxing Dennis to make a swing set, but I was desperate. I'm not kidding, we rely on that swing set a lot. It helps with sensory issues as well entertainment on windy, rainy, hot and humid and even snowy days. That swing set is used A LOT. And Max, who uses the swing set more than anyone (which is probably what was the beginning of the end for the swing set), swings on the swing set as early as 7:30 in the morning to as late as 8:00 at night. Not all at once, of course, but the point is, it's used a lot!

In the end, it was Lucy's crocodile tears and the trauma of the whole thing that made Dennis relent. I think he would have done it even without the tears. 

Home Depot sells "make it yourself" wooden swing sets which helped a lot. For now, we have one set of the swing sets done, which have only two swings to it, but at least it will be safe. We're going to buy a second set so that more kids can use it at the same time, but not all on the same bar.

Hopefully next post will be of the kids swinging on their new swing set, and this time, with nothing crashing down on them.