We've been talking about getting rid of our play set since last spring. The family agreed it was time. Yesterday Mike listed it on Craig's List and quickly his phone started buzzing. It was free to anyone interested in taking it down and hauling it away. We joked that we should maybe even pay the takers, but surprisingly many were willing. A family with a van full of kids came and disassembled the set before I could even think about taking one last picture. One last picture of my kids swinging on the swings they long ago outgrew. Sadly, there was no sparking cider toast ala Lisa Rinna and her family either. It was rather sudden and unceremonious as are most play set removals I imagine. Miss Bit caught me watching the end of an era from the cover of my bedroom window. Actually, I'm quite sure she called me out as a stalker. I had to admit that I felt just a little pull at my heartstrings at the prospect of my two being too big to enjoy the teeter totter and slide any longer because to not do so would have been futile. My girl can see right through me. Unlike outgrown baseball jerseys and too small smocked dresses, the play set cannot be packed away and pulled out later to prove that once not that very long ago they were small. To that my girl reminded me not to mistake my attachment to my people with a grip on our things. She said, "You've still got us!" And then I felt rather silly as we both agreed it was such a good thing that other children would make memories like the ones we remember fondly. It feels warm and fuzzy to pay it forward. It feels right.
After dinner a couple hours later, the four of us were singing and dancing in the kitchen playing our version of name that tune. Mike and I are pros at the classics and, of course, the kids know all the current hits, but they can identify some of the greats like Frank and Cat and Stevie too. I realized as we were all connecting and crooning that this growing up thing is more sweet than it is bitter. It's only natural that some things have to be left behind in order to move forward.
The family that now owns the set promised to send us a picture. They've been saving up and squirreling away the best parts of a number of older sets in the hopes of building one double decker super set for their crew. I'm looking forward to seeing the happy transformation.
