backyard playsetsIt's that time of 12 months again: playset season. Enough time when millions of parents prepare yourself to shell out thousands of dollars for small-scale yard jungle gyms because of their beloved children.For a long time I'd were able to successfully avert this requirement of suburban family life. And then, one day something happened.I cracked.I cannot even blame my kids. They never badgered me or complained. I'm not even sure they desired a playset. No. I wanted one.If we were outside the house in the garden my kids wandered around aimlessly, invariably coming back inside to the couch. I wanted to shoo them back outside and shout, "Go play!" But using what? We didn't have a pool or swings or perhaps a paved driveway to bring on. I determined for my own sanity and their success we needed a playset.Visions of summertime times whiled away on a swingset or in the attached fort with children's laughter floating by on the balmy breeze, danced in my own head. But I needed a very important factor to be correctly clear. If I would take out a second mortgage to finance a playset, my kids were going to have to live on it--literally.The playset we eyed-up got a house-like enclosure and a picnic table and was nearly as large as my house. It had been certainly a suitable dwelling for two smallish people. They could come inside for the winter however, not until then. In case we ran some electric wiring and plumbing to the fort, I would not ever have to see them again.But much like most fantasies, once noticed, the facts on the floor don't quite match the perspective, and so it was with the playset.My research on playsets commenced well before springtime because I thought if we bought in the off-season, we may be capable of geting an acceptable price. I used to be mistaken. You can find no sensible prices when it comes to playsets. I don't know if the hardware is sturdy yellow metal or if the composition is constructed of rare, endangered lumber, but bargains aren't to be enjoyed. So I considered a choice a friend advised: used playsets. You can get a complete playset for one half the purchase price. That acquired my name written all over it.Unfortunately, it did not have my husband's name written on it. He was against the whole playset idea from the beginning--it would damage his lawn. If, however, I was going to insist he recognize he has children and that they require playthings, then he established he would need a deluxe model worthy of being put atop his pristine garden.Still, I continuing in my seek out pre-owned models, persuaded I could meet us both. And I was successful to find a used playset in relatively good shape large enough for two school-age kids. It even experienced a rock wall structure. But the best part was it only cost about a thousand bucks. Success was mine.Then my hubby described the playset was somewhere outside the tri-state area, and we didn't have a vehicle large enough to move it even if we does want to take the half-day drive to go obtain it. I nodded silently. I grasped. And with a heavy heart, I quit on my used playset search.For those who have never had the knowledge of shopping for a playset, it's a significant daunting task. There are plenty of makes and models and heights and configurations to choose from, and everything the real playthings are extra. I suppose you can buy a reasonably cheap wooden body, but all of your children can do is stare at it wistfully because it would be only an large sawhorse.I continued to shop around online for weeks until the day finally emerged when I noticed my dream swing set. It acquired everything I'd imagined. The sole problem was I couldn't find the money for it. During the period of the next weeks, I frequented the playset several times, hoping to happen upon a sale. Then, mid-summer, it finally took place. The company experienced what constituted a storewide sales in playset circles: free gangplank weekend. I was sold.Free gangplank weekend was an enormous coup for me, and I breathed a sigh of comfort that the hunting and agonizing and planning was over. Then your sales guy hit me with the invoice. Slightly below $2,000. And it was FREE gangplank weekend!The playset has been bought and paid for, supplied and erected in our yard for nearly yearly, but it was not played with much. Or maybe I should say it was not played with approximately $2,000 would warrant. We haven't made our money back onto it yet, but a few items have been well worth their price. The swings and trapeze pub. That's really all you have to. Take it from someone whose been burned.The youngsters still wander aimlessly about the backyard, ignoring the one component, the most expensive one, that they lobbied so vehemently, the fort. It sits empty except for the wild birds and the squirrels. But maybe if we installed a TV in there...