Recess

So there's been some scrappage. Heidi Swapp stuff hit the local shelves. It's a problem.

Bo is all about the monkey bars these days. He was telling us that he has to wait in line for them. Two weeks ago, the huge ant pile was a major draw.

I recall elementary school and the playground fads. You know, the week long "hot" items that you all raced out to get to. One week, you are bribing people with your Oreos at lunch if they will give you a turn on the swings, and the next week, they blow empty and abandoned as the whole gang gathers around the slide. The trapeze bar, playing frogger in the swings, kick ball, flipping on the monkey bars. Playing "Star Wars" with four Princess Leas, two Han Solo's and three Luke Skywalkers.

In the recollection of these things, I felt like I had once again been let out of the burden of a hard desk seat, the dreary monotony of spelling tests, seat work, sharpening pencils and the odor of sweaty kids and sandwiches slowly warming up to room temperature. The blissful liberation of sun and wind, and freedom to move the arms and legs, if only for 20 minutes, was water to a thirsty school girl. That Freedom is inside me now. Fresh air. Sunshine. It's inside you too.

What playground trends do you remember?