Monday, September 26, 2005
The girls FINALLY have a climbing frame!
It took many months, but Daddy finally yielded to pressure from Mommy and allowed a climbing structure to be built in the back yard (Mommy's argument: "We can take it down in a few years, honey, and then plant those fruit trees you wanted..."). Besides, that yard waste bin slide mount was a bit impractical, foul-smelling in the sun, and just a tad unsafe.
Months ago dear friends offered us a playset that they had constructed the previous summer, but had taken down when they moved to a different house, which happened to already have a deluxe playset in the yard. The pieces had been sitting up against their new house and they offered it to us (I gave them a digital camera in trade), and it was just a matter of us retrieving it and putting it together.
Usually I would tackle a project like this myself, but it really was a job for two, and not advisable to undertake with little ones underfoot. So I started begging.
After a few months Daddy was willing to retrieve the pieces. But he didn't want to be involved in putting it together. No way. (Maybe it wouldn't get done if he didn't help).
Grandpa, who'd been living with us off and on until I showed him the door in June, never had the "time" to put this together. Always time for a massage, a booty call, and a visit to the psychic, but never time to do anything for me or his grandchildren. And with his carpentry background and expensive powertools, he could have assembled it in a snap.
My 20 year old stepdaughter is studying architecture and has solid woodworking skills, but she spent her summer studying in Europe and truly had no time on her short visit home. She would have been a fantastic partner in this build out.
In the end, on September 3rd, our friends who gave us the structure came and assembled it for us. They are amazing friends in many ways, but for the two little girls who live here, they are a "Summer Santa Claus."
Months ago dear friends offered us a playset that they had constructed the previous summer, but had taken down when they moved to a different house, which happened to already have a deluxe playset in the yard. The pieces had been sitting up against their new house and they offered it to us (I gave them a digital camera in trade), and it was just a matter of us retrieving it and putting it together.
Usually I would tackle a project like this myself, but it really was a job for two, and not advisable to undertake with little ones underfoot. So I started begging.
After a few months Daddy was willing to retrieve the pieces. But he didn't want to be involved in putting it together. No way. (Maybe it wouldn't get done if he didn't help).
Grandpa, who'd been living with us off and on until I showed him the door in June, never had the "time" to put this together. Always time for a massage, a booty call, and a visit to the psychic, but never time to do anything for me or his grandchildren. And with his carpentry background and expensive powertools, he could have assembled it in a snap.
My 20 year old stepdaughter is studying architecture and has solid woodworking skills, but she spent her summer studying in Europe and truly had no time on her short visit home. She would have been a fantastic partner in this build out.
In the end, on September 3rd, our friends who gave us the structure came and assembled it for us. They are amazing friends in many ways, but for the two little girls who live here, they are a "Summer Santa Claus."
# posted by kanda @ 8:46 PM 
