Playground in My Mind

A lot of moms I know HATE the park. I am not a park hater but admittedly it is not among my top ten ways to waste a Saturday afternoon. But like most kids, MyKid loves the park. Two Sundays ago, I decided to try a park we had never visited. I liked it a lot. It had a dedicated tricyle track and a large shaded fenced-in play area with adjacent bathrooms (so important for the newly potty trained). It was clean, there was a minimum of graffti and unsavory looking characters. For a park in Los Angeles, it was even relatively uncrowded. I was happy to have tried it out and intended to put it in our regular park rotation.

And then, I heard this. A nanny reported that a man had tried to buy her charge in my new park. I heard the mother of the nanny's charge interviewed on the radio. She sang the praises of her protective, quick-thinking nanny. Panic spread throughout the suburbs. My neighbors mentioned it to me and told me to be careful. My preschool had a flyer posted warning parents of this lurking danger. I was bummed. The park is in a nice neighborhood but I guess we are never safe. Just when I find a park I like, a shadow is cast. My cool new park thrill was tainted.

Then, a few days ago I read an update. Turns out the nanny made the story up. She hates the park too.