Nine reasons the park is awesome

Spring has finally fully sprung and playground time is here. I see two to three hour playground sessions in my near future (as opposed to the thirty minute "hey my hands are cold"sessions of the winter). I thought about writing a list of my playground pet peeves, but decided to go in the other way and write about what is great about the park.

1. The squeals of glee as a kid swings higher and higher on a swing.

2. Watching your kid discover and explore the outdoors. Wether it's tracking a squirrel or bird, or finding a colony of ants crawling on a log.

3. Seeing your kids play the same way you played as a child. When I was three there were no computers or video games in the house. But there were swings to swing on, slides to slide on and butterflies to chase.

4. Letting a child's imagination run wild. A log becomes a space ship and a bunch of acorns become a store full of diamonds.

5. Discovering a new playground and trying out strange and exotic equipment.

6. The sound of the ice cream truck on a warm day. (Its on my pet peeve list when I have no cash on hand).

7. Watching your kids strike up mini-friendships. Chuck Palihnuik called them single serving friends in the book Fight Club.

8. It's better than watching TV. Hey I love watching TV, but an hour in the park is better than an hour on the couch.

9. Looking in the rear view mirror on the way home and seeing mouths agape and eye lids closed.