backyard playsetsIt's that point of yr again: playset season. The time when an incredible number of parents prepare yourself to pay out thousands for small-scale yard jungle gyms because of their beloved children.For a long time I'd were able to efficiently avert this dependence on suburban family life. And then, 1 day something happened.I cracked.I can't even blame my kids. They never badgered me or complained. I'm not sure they sought a playset. No. I wanted one.If we were outdoors in the yard my kids wandered around aimlessly, invariably coming back inside to the couch. I needed to shoo them back outside the house and shout, "Go play!" But with what? We didn't have a pool or swings or perhaps a paved driveway to get on. I made a decision for my very own sanity and their success we needed a playset.Visions of summer months days whiled away on a swingset or in the fastened fort with children's laughter floating by over a balmy breeze, danced in my own head. But I needed one thing to be perfectly clear. EASILY would take out another mortgage to fund a playset, my kids were going to have to go on it--literally.The playset we eyed-up got a house-like enclosure and a picnic table and was basically as large as my house. It was certainly a suitable dwelling for just two smallish people. They could come inside for the winter but not until then. And when we ran some electric wiring and domestic plumbing to the fort, I would never have to see them again.But much like most fantasies, once realized, the facts on the floor don't quite match the eyesight, therefore it was with the playset.My research on playsets commenced well before spring because I thought if we bought in the off-season, we would be able to get a reasonable price. I got mistaken. You will discover no affordable prices as it pertains to playsets. I don't know if the hardware is sound silver or if the composition is constructed of rare, endangered timber, but bargains are not to be enjoyed. So I considered an option a friend advised: used playsets. You can get a whole playset for 50 percent the purchase price. That got my name written all over it.Unfortunately, it did not have my husband's name written on it. He was against the complete playset idea from the beginning--it would ruin his grass. If, however, I was going to insist he recognize he has children and they require toys and games, then he driven he would desire a deluxe model worth being located atop his pristine backyard.Still, I extended in my search for pre-owned models, persuaded I could fulfill us both. And I was successful to find a used playset in relatively good condition large enough for just two school-age kids. It even experienced a rock wall membrane. But the best benefit was it only cost in regards to a thousand bucks. Success was mine.Then my husband pointed out the playset was somewhere outside the tri-state area, and we didn't have a vehicle large enough to move it even if we have want to take the half-day drive to move get it. I nodded silently. I recognized. And with much heart, I quit on my used playset search.For people who have never had the experience of shopping for a playset, it's a significant daunting task. There are several makes and models and levels and configurations to choose from, and all the actual playthings are extra. I suppose you can buy a fairly cheap wooden framework, but all of your children can do is stare at it wistfully because it would be nothing more than an oversized sawhorse.I continued to comparison shop online for weeks before day finally came up when I spotted my dream swing action set. It got everything I'd dreamed. The only problem was I couldn't manage it. Over the course of the next weeks, I went to the playset several times, hoping to occur upon a sale. Then, mid-summer, it finally happened. The company got what constituted a storewide deal in playset circles: free gangplank weekend. I got sold.Free gangplank weekend was a huge coup for me personally, and I breathed a sigh of relief that the hunting and agonizing and planning was over. Then your sales guy struck 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 inside our yard for almost yearly, but it hasn't been played with much. Or maybe I should say it hasn't been played with just as much as $2,000 would warrant. We haven't made our cash back onto it yet, but a few items have been worth their price. The swings and trapeze bar. That's really all you have to. Take it from someone whose been burnt.The youngsters still wander aimlessly about the back garden, 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 Television in there...