backyard playsetsIt's that time of 12 months again: playset season. The time when millions of parents prepare yourself to pay out thousands of dollars for small-scale back garden jungle gyms for his or her beloved children.For years I'd were able to effectively avert this dependence on suburban family life. And, 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 needed one.Whenever we were outdoors in the garden my kids wandered around aimlessly, invariably returning inside to the couch. I wanted to shoo them back again outside and shout, "Go play!" But with what? We didn't have a pool or swings or perhaps a paved driveway to sketch on. I made the decision for my own sanity and their success we needed a playset.Visions of summer months times whiled away on the swingset or in the fastened fort with children's laughter floating by on the balmy air flow, danced in my head. But I wanted one thing to be flawlessly clear. If I would take out a second mortgage to funding a playset, my kids were heading to have to go on it--literally.The playset we eyed-up got a house-like enclosure and a picnic table and was practically as big as my house. It had been certainly the right dwelling for just two smallish people. They could come inside for the wintertime but not until then. In case we ran some electric wiring and domestic plumbing to the fort, I would never have to see them again.But as with most fantasies, once understood, the facts on the ground don't quite match the vision, and so it was with the playset.My research on playsets commenced well before planting season because I thought if we bought in the off-season, we might be capable of geting a reasonable price. I used to be mistaken. There are no reasonable prices when it comes to playsets. I have no idea if the hardware is solid gold or if the framework is made of rare, endangered hardwood, but bargains are not to be enjoyed. So I considered an option a friend advised: used playsets. One could get a complete playset for half 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 whole playset idea from the beginning--it would harm his lawn. If, however, I was going to insist he recognize he has children and they require toys, then he decided he would need a deluxe model worthy of being placed atop his pristine grass.Still, I extended in my seek out pre-owned models, persuaded I could gratify us both. And I was successful to find a used playset in relatively good condition large enough for two school-age kids. It even got a rock wall structure. But the best benefit was it only cost about a thousand bucks. Success was mine.Then my husband pointed out the playset was someplace beyond your tri-state area, and we didn't have a car large enough to transport it even if we did want to take the half-day drive to visit obtain it. I nodded silently. I grasped. And with much 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 various makes and models and levels and configurations to choose from, and everything the genuine playthings are extra. I suppose you might buy a reasonably cheap wooden structure, but your entire children can do is stare at it wistfully since it would be nothing more than an large sawhorse.I continued to comparison shop online for weeks before day finally came up when I discovered my dream golf swing set. It acquired everything I'd thought. Really the only problem was I couldn't afford it. During the period of the following weeks, I stopped at the playset several times, hoping to occur upon a sales. Then, mid-summer, it finally happened. The company experienced what constituted a storewide sale in playset circles: free gangplank weekend. I was 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 the sales guy hit me with the bill. Just under $2,000. And it was FREE gangplank weekend!The playset has been bought and payed for, shipped and erected in our yard for almost each year, but it was not played with much. Or possibly I should say it hasn't been played with approximately $2,000 would warrant. We haven't made our money back on it yet, but a few items have been well worth their price. The swings and trapeze club. That's really all you have to. Take it from someone whose been used up.The youngsters still wander aimlessly about the garden, ignoring the main one component, the most expensive one, for which they lobbied so vehemently, the fort. It sits empty aside from the parrots and the squirrels. But maybe if we installed a Tv set in there...