It was one of those newfangled contraptions with the safety netting around it. The addition of a safety netting was like a joyful fountain unto my soul.
You see, dear readers, I have this mom. She has worked at a pediatric doctor’s office for as long as I can remember.
Long before Sister, Mother, and I felt that the following hairstyles were socially acceptable.
Don’t be jealous. Not everyone can get a glamor shot taken whilst wearing shiny tarp.
But I digress.
Mother has worked at a pediatric office for years and she has never failed to inform us of every horrible event that can go wrong in the course of one’s childhood. And, no. It did not make me paranoid at all. I just never allowed bumper pads on cribs, baby blankets, or blinds on windows near cribs.
And I still, to this day, cut my kids’ grapes.
Growing up, we had a trampoline. This was back before the safety netting was included. My mother, who had seen plenty of trampoline tragedies in her day, made it a rule that we could only jump up and down on the trampoline and do the occasional butt-sit.
David’s family also had a trampoline while growing up. My husband would jump out his second-story window onto the trampoline and try to bounce high enough to soar over the clothesline. And, yes. My husband has impaled himself on objects a time or two, why do you ask?
So, now we have a trampoline and the kids love it. But it turns out that the safety net has one major flaw.
A strong wind came and that was it. Our trampoline?
Gone with the Wind.
Do you get it? Do you get it? Oh, man. That was ueber dumb.
So, the only way my husband could put it back together was to ditch the safety net. And if you think about it, how is a safety net safe if it makes a large trampoline flit about the yard? Luckily my kids were not outside playing during the time. That might cause a bit of a head injury, don’t you think?
But, now I get to be all worried-like that someone is going to break something. Because, have you met my kids?
Motherhood. Not for the faint of heart.
The kids really enjoy it though and it is a good way to get some exercise. The other day, Little Dude just headed on out there, took off all of his clothes, and started jumping all crazy-like on the trampoline.
And I mean all of his clothes.
What is with this boy, the free spirit that he is? This boy is always in the nude. It is really quite discouraging.
Handsome Dude: Mom! Moooom! MOM! Cokey has a *unit* again.
Allow me to interpret. He said the real word for the private part. And he calls Little Dude Cokey. And we are all just sick of seeing Cokey in the nude. And rightfully so.
Not a day goes by that Little Dude does not get scolded for being an exhibitionist.
Jason and Amy came for a visit and they jumped on the trampoline with the aforementioned children. Who were all clothed.
Check out Little Dude in this picture:
He was F-U-R-I-O-U-S, but I told him to smile and he did his best.
And I appreciate the effort on his part.
Happy Wednesday!
My husband and yours would get along just fine. My hubs also had a thing for removing his clothes so don’t worry too much about Little Dude. I think mine got over that (mostly) somewhere before we graduated from uni. I’m not joking.
Our kids had a trampoline too. I learned after they were grown that they jumped off the playhouse roof onto it many times. Ignorance is bliss… and so is having kids playing outside while you are in the house 🙂
I’m with your mom – I have trampoline paranoia as well. I make my kids jump one at a time even on trampolines with a safety net.
Some day they’ll thank me.
Or get their own danged trampolines and write posts like this one with pictures that impart fear unto my soul.
We had a trampoline when the kids were little. After seeing how many times they came within centimeters of hitting the edge, falling off completely or kicking a sibling in the head/face, I finally had to deal with it the only way I knew how.
I stopped watching.
So do you think living in Ruralville and the isolation there encourages nudity, or do you think it’s a good thing you moved to Ruralville before LD discovered his hatred of clothing?
I never would get one when my kids were little because I was afraid they’d kill themselves on it.
I have a friend who had a neighbor’s trampoline fly into her house. I couldn’t believe it when her insurance company called it an act of God. I didn’t think God cared one way or another about trampolines.
What a fabulous post! My son used to take his clothes off too! (He’s 20 now and if he still does I don’t have to watch!) So glad I dropped by on my A to Z travels! (New follower) LindaK
Do your kids “spring” each other into the air? One time I did that to my brother who was six years older than me, and he flew so far up that he landed about ten feet from the trampoline, in my mom’s garden, and he sliced his foot open on a coffee can she had circling a tiny plant…
So that was a little traumatizing.
For about 30 seconds, or the next time we jumped together.
You know what’s really really funny about your son being in the nude? Out there in the “middle of nowhere”? Now you know I can’t say here, but you KNOW! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA he’s just fitting in to your surroundings HAHAHAHAHAHAHA 😉 Sorry i’m so obnoxious 🙂
No trampoline at our house but they have one across the street. The busy-you-are-only-supposed-to-go-30-miles-an-hour street that EVERYONE takes at 45!
I’m a bit bitter. My children will not be able to cross the street until they are 25!
Oh, and Mindylou who’s comment is HYSTERICAL!
(and I kinda don’t get it exactly!) And yet it is so funny!
Oh I agree! (And I don’t get it either but it is hilarious!)
Two, wait, no three points for using the word flit. My kid also loved to be a nudist. PS so did yer ma.
I think God knew that I couldn’t handle kids who ran around naked…I never had one who liked to strip down to nothing. 🙂
I bet I would have gotten a lot of blog mileage out of it though!
oh boy … I think Taylor is trying to prepare us for the letter N … for NEKKID!!!! the first question the insurance company asks when you’re getting home insurance is “do you have a trampoline?” … this has always kept me from entertaining the possibility of such entertainment. You are to be extolled for your bravery/Cool Momishness!
My kids don’t know about trampolines yet–and I hope it stays that way!
Fun post! 🙂
My mom got the grand kids one and they spend hours on it. I love it only my post-childbearing bladder does not. It’s very humbling to have to ask for a depend, liner, or clean pair of undies so I can jump!!!
I was a first-aider at a secondary school for 9 years and I used to dread it when trampolining was on the PE timetable. I saw so many injuries on them – kids with whiplash-type injuries being the most common and one where a kid’s arm ended up with two extra bends between elbow and wrist being the most “I can’t believe what I’m looking at” one. The bloodiest involved a 15 yr old girl who learned the hard way why the teacher told them that no belly-button piercings were allowed…..*urgh*