backyard playsetsIt's that time of yr again: playset season. Enough time when millions of parents prepare yourself to shell out thousands for small-scale yard jungle gyms for their beloved children.For a long time I'd were able to efficiently avert this requirement of suburban family life. And, 1 day something happened.I cracked.I cannot even blame my kids. They never badgered me or complained. I'm not even sure they wanted a playset. No. I needed one.If we were outside the house in the backyard my kids wandered around aimlessly, invariably returning inside to the couch. I needed to shoo them back outdoors and shout, "Go play!" But with what? We didn't have a pool or swings or even a paved driveway to get on. I decided for my own sanity and their success we needed a playset.Visions of summer season days and nights whiled away on a swingset or in the attached fort with children's laughter floating by on a balmy air flow, danced in my own head. But I needed a very important factor to be perfectly clear. If I was going to take out a second mortgage to financing a playset, my kids were going to have to live on it--literally.The playset we eyed-up possessed a house-like enclosure and a picnic table and was pretty much as big as my house. It was certainly the right dwelling for two smallish people. They could come inside for the wintertime but not until then. Of course, if we ran some electric wiring and domestic plumbing to the fort, I might not ever have to see them again.But as with most fantasies, once noticed, the facts on the ground don't quite match the eye-sight, and so it was with the playset.My research on playsets commenced prior to spring because I thought if we bought in the off-season, we might be able to get a reasonable price. I was mistaken. You will find no sensible prices when it comes to playsets. I have no idea if the hardware is sturdy gold or if the framework is constructed of rare, endangered solid wood, but bargains are not to be had. THEREFORE I considered an option a friend suggested: used playsets. You can get a complete playset for 50 percent the purchase price. That had my name written all over it.Unfortunately, it didn't have my husband's name written on it. He was against the complete playset idea from the beginning--it would affect his grass. If, however, I was going to insist he recognize he has children and they require toys and games, then he identified he would desire a deluxe model worth being positioned atop his pristine garden.Still, I continued in my seek out pre-owned models, convinced I could satisfy us both. And I was successful in finding a used playset in relatively good condition large enough for just two school-age kids. It even experienced a rock wall structure. But the best part was it only cost about a thousand bucks. Triumph was mine.Then my hubby pointed out the playset was someplace beyond your 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 look obtain it. I nodded silently. I grasped. And with a heavy heart, I quit on my used playset search.For people who have never had the knowledge of searching for a playset, it's quite a daunting task. There are many makes and models and levels and configurations to choose from, and all the genuine playthings are extra. I suppose you can buy a reasonably cheap wooden frame, but your entire children would be able to do is stare at it wistfully since it would be only an oversized sawhorse.I continued to shop around online for weeks before day finally came when I spotted my dream swing set. It had everything I'd imagined. The sole problem was I couldn't manage it. Over the course of the following weeks, I seen the playset several times, hoping to happen upon a deal. Then, mid-summer, it finally occurred. The company got what constituted a storewide sales in playset circles: free gangplank weekend. I used to be sold.Free gangplank weekend was an enormous coup for me personally, and I breathed a sigh of pain relief that the hunting and agonizing and planning was over. Then your sales guy hit me with the charge. Slightly below $2,000. And it was FREE gangplank weekend!The playset has been bought and payed for, supplied and erected in our yard for nearly per year, but it was not played with much. Or possibly I will say it was not played with just as much as $2,000 would warrant. We haven't made our cash back on it yet, but a few items have been worthy of their price. The swings and trapeze pub. That's really all you need. Take it from someone whose been burned.The kids still wander aimlessly about the garden, ignoring the one component, the priciest one, for which they lobbied so vehemently, the fort. It sits empty aside from the birds and the squirrels. But maybe if we installed a Tv set in there...