Spring is here. The weather is beautiful. Time to go play at all the local playgrounds. I hardly went to playgrounds last summer. My toddler was little and dangerous. But this summer, she is bigger and totally capable. Right? Haha. Wrong.
First trip to the play ground
PipSqueak sat in the baby swing the whole time. Occasionally asking for another snack. Yep, we went all the way to the playground to sit on the swing and eat. My toddler hogged the baby swing for 3 hours, but she was happy.
Also PipSqueak stayed off of that spinning thing. Last summer, one of the few times we went to the play ground, she enjoyed that spinning thing a little too much. As soon as we got in the car to go home, PipSqueak threw up everywhere. So she is not allowed on the spinning thing anymore.
The second trip to the playground
PipSqueak actually got out of the baby swing. For a whole two minutes, she was happily playing with her sister. Big Sis gave PipSqueak a hug. They are so adorable. A random toddler saw them, and was inspired to hug PipSqueak too. When toddlers hug, it usually turns into a tackle, so both girls fell over. PipSqueak landed on top of the other girl. Apparently the other girl has a problem with biting, so she clamped down on PipSqueak’s cheek. There was screaming.
My cautious child finally gets out of the baby swing and she gets bit. The whole situation escalated quickly and went down hill fast.
I held her for awhile. Once PipSqueak stopped crying and calmed down, she asked me to put her back in the baby swing. Two minutes later, that same random toddler ran in front of the swing. I caught the swing and kept that girl from getting nailed. If only I could also keep my own child from getting injured…
Today we went to a different play ground
I was pushing both of my girls on big-kid swings. I pushed Big Sis high on the swing. While PipSqueak was swinging just enough to keep her from yelling at me, but slow enough to hopefully not fall off the swing.
PipSqueak eventually decided she was all done swinging. Instead of asking for help, she tried to get off the swing all by herself. She slid off, but kept holding on. She was too short to touch the ground, so she was hanging there. I reached over to help her, as she let go and landed on her feet. She did not even need my help after all.
I reached for the swing to keep it from hitting her in the head. That was an unnecessary waste of time, because PipSqueak was fast. She hit the ground running. And ran directly in front of her sister’s swing. She got nailed, thrown, and hit the ground hard. Fortunately, she stayed down while her sister swung back over her. Seriously, did what just happened? I stopped Big Sister’s swing and picked up little Sis.
All the other parents at the playground, heard the thud and saw her hit the ground. They also saw me standing 6 inches away. They had to be thinking, “why didn’t you stop her?” Well I distracted by saving her from getting hit by the other swing.
Fortunately, my feisty toddler recovered quickly, asking me to fix her hearing aid, and put her back on the big-kid swing. At least, she is good at getting back up every time she falls. But I would prefer to keep her in a baby swing always.
On side-note, this spring, we have gone to the playground a few times as a family. On those trips, there were no injuries. So, from now on, I should make sure Dada comes to the playground with us. It seems that two parents are better than one, when it comes to keeping this feisty toddler safe.
