Every week this summer at least one of my boys has requested some sort of playground device on our property, typically their request is for a fort or tree house but it can range from slides to climbing walls to swings. Steve is a bit particular about the yard and what goes in it (minus my flower beds and vegetable garden) so getting him to commit to an object that could potentially take up a sizable section of the yard requires sales skills that I don't particularly feel like exercising. Since I am the one at home with our roaring balls of energy, affectionately called Brandon and Andrew, I am eager to find devices to burn off their energy; I am particularly fond of methods or devices that don't require me to expend any of my own. Not wishing to practice my rusty sales skills for the 4th week in a row this summer, I took matters into my own hands and made a quick trip to Home Depot in search of the perfect swing. Wandering through the stacks of lumber I eventually found myself in one of the far back corners of the store where what to my wandering eyes did appear? Why three bright orange shopping carts filled with wood, my dear. Glancing around, my eyes rested upon the perfect piece. Solid oak, rounded edges and wide enough for a 6 year old's bum to fit comfortably without rolling off backwards once the swing was hanging in place. Grabbing the piece of wood I headed for the checkout counter where I received a lovely piece of news; the wood was free as it was deemed "scrap". Not only was this project now free, but I now had access to a little known (or perhaps merely untapped) supply of free child-sized pieces of lumber at Home Depot for potential projects for my kids. Arriving home I scanned the wall of tools in Steve's workroom and soon realized I might need his help with Step 2: drilling holes for the rope. With the swing project now on hold until later that evening I had ample time to rev up the enthusiasm of the kids in order to get their dad to buy into this project. That evening, with the kids cheerleading around the swing project and the supplies physically in his workroom, space would be found and dedicated to our latest lawn ornament, the tree swing.
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