The teeter totter

My grandpa was a handy guy. He had some heart problems and retired early. In order to prevent some serious insanity, he built things in his wood shop. After that, we got really cool wooden gifts for Christmas. I remember having tea parties at the little table and chair set he made for me and my sisters. I put my babies to sleep in the cradle he made, and now Allie does it too. We got jigsaw puzzles and my favorite, a huge doll house. We had a toy box that pinched fingers and came crashing down on your head if you didn't hold onto the lid when venturing in for a toy. And one year we got a teeter totter. This was no ordinary teeter totter. It went up and down, but it also went round and round. It was the favorite neighborhood toy for years. We would get Ryan from across the street to spin us around so fast that we had to hang on for dear life. It was ideal of you could get two kids of similar weight on there so the two sides would be even as we went round and round.

Like any cool toy back then, this one was dangerous. If you fell off while spinning at high speeds, the one left on would slam to the ground and roll. Sometimes fingers were pinched. Sometimes bums would hurt for days. Sometimes chins would get cut open when the board smacked your face after you fell off. There were always risks, but we loved it anyway.

What is the point of this post? The last time I was in Orem, we pulled the old totter out of retirement. The handles have broken off and it needed some sanding and a fresh coat of paint, but otherwise it's the same old contraption we all knew and loved.

The kids sanded the old paint off and they all took turns with the spray can when it came time for the new paint.

We reminisced about our old injuries and fond memories. We waited for the paint to dry, and commented on how long it takes for paint to dry...then it was dry.

Jake and Allie were there to try it out. It was great!

There were smiles.

There were giggles.

Then there were tears. Allie decided she was done when Jake was still in the air. She hopped off and before I could catch the board, he came crashing down, fell off, and got smacked in the chin by the board as it bounced up(the classic injury).

They both walked away from the incident a little scared. We tried to make them get back on so they could end on a good note. It wasn't the best note.

Maybe things will be different when we get some handles, but so far they don't love the teeter totter like we all did when we were kids. It was really fun to work on it though, and even more fun to remember the glory days.