backyard playsetsIt's that time of yr again: playset season. The time when millions of parents get ready to pay out thousands of dollars for small-scale back garden jungle gyms for his or her beloved children.For years I'd managed to effectively avert this requirement of suburban family life. And, one day something happened.I cracked.I can't even blame my kids. They never badgered me or complained. I'm not even sure they wished a playset. No. I wanted one.Whenever we were outdoors in the garden my kids wandered around aimlessly, invariably coming back inside to the sofa. I wanted to shoo them back again outdoors and shout, "Go play!" But with what? We didn't have a pool or swings or perhaps a paved driveway to sketch on. I chosen for my very own sanity and their success we needed a playset.Visions of summertime times whiled away on the 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 properly clear. If I was going to take out a second mortgage to financing a playset, my kids were going to have to go on it--literally.The playset we eyed-up had a house-like enclosure and a picnic stand and was basically as big as my house. It was certainly a suitable dwelling for two smallish people. They could come inside for the winter but not until then. If we ran some electric wiring and plumbing to the fort, I might never have to see them again.But as with most fantasies, once understood, the facts on the floor don't quite match the vision, 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 might be able to get an acceptable price. I used to be mistaken. There are no acceptable prices as it pertains to playsets. I don't know if the hardware is stable platinum or if the composition is made of rare, endangered wood, but bargains are not to be enjoyed. THEREFORE I considered a choice a friend advised: used playsets. You can get a complete playset for one half the price. That possessed my name written around it.Unfortunately, it didn't have my husband's name written on it. He was against the whole playset idea from the beginning--it would affect his turf. If, however, I was going to insist he acknowledge he has children and that they require playthings, then he driven he would need a deluxe model worthy of being placed atop his pristine backyard.Still, I extended in my search for pre-owned models, convinced I could satisfy us both. And I was successful to find a used playset in relatively good condition large enough for two school-age kids. It even acquired a rock wall. But the best benefit was it only cost in regards to a thousand bucks. Success was mine.Then my husband described the playset was anywhere outside the tri-state area, and we didn't have a vehicle large enough to move it even if we performed want to take the half-day drive to move get it. I nodded silently. I known. And with a heavy heart, I gave up on my used playset search.For people who have never had the knowledge of shopping for a playset, it's quite a daunting task. There are many makes and models and levels and configurations to choose from, and everything the actual playthings are extra. I suppose you might buy a reasonably cheap wooden frame, but all of your children would be able to do is stare at it wistfully since it would be only an large sawhorse.I continued to comparison shop online for weeks until the day finally arrived when I spotted my dream swing set. It had everything I'd imagined. The only real problem was I couldn't find the money for it. Over the course of the next weeks, I went to the playset many times, hoping to happen upon a sale. Then, mid-summer, it finally happened. The company had what constituted a storewide sale in playset circles: free gangplank weekend. I was sold.Free gangplank weekend was an enormous coup for me, and I breathed a sigh of relief that the hunting and agonizing and planning was over. Then the sales guy hit me with the expenses. Just under $2,000. And it was FREE gangplank weekend!The playset has been bought and payed for, sent and erected in our yard for almost yearly, but it hasn't been used much. Or possibly I should say it was not played with around $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 bar. That's really all you need. Take it from someone whose been used up.The youngsters still wander aimlessly about the yard, ignoring the main one component, the priciest one, for which they lobbied so vehemently, the fort. It rests empty aside from the wild birds and the squirrels. But maybe if we installed a Television in there...