We're swingers

While on a walk with the kids yesterday, I was thrilled to discover that our neighborhood now has a swing set! Since the kids had never been in a real swing before (we don't have our own, and my one attempt at taking them to the park last year was a huge failure), I was itching to put them in the swings and see how they liked them. There was just one problem: This particular swing set has only two toddler swings. Clearly the neighborhood association didn't take our family into account when deciding how many of those to order!

Undeterred, I considered my options: I could turn around and go home (no way, Jose); put two kids in each swing, back to back (nope, the kids are already too big for that); or put two in the swings while the other two waited in the choo choo (possibly tricky, but probably doable). I knew what I had to do.

The girls got to go first, while the boys looked on:

Then, when it was time to put the boys in the swings, I beeped (yes, you read that right) and switched everyone out:

Another mom who was there with her older kids remarked on how patient my kids were while they waited in the choo choo, so I explained my beeping to her: At home, we have a timer that we use to manage turns on our indoor trampoline, and I've discovered that—any other time I want someone's turn to end—all I have to do is make a "beep beep beep" sound, and they go along with it, as if I had used a real timer. I don't know how long they'll be cool with this charade, but so far it's been a lifesaver!

Oh, and by the way, all four kids LOVED the swings and can't stop talking about them. I have no doubt that we will be making good use of the neighborhood playground this year!