Why should I buy a playset?

Why should I buy a playset? You should buy a playset to create memories to cherish. Fall is Here! I love seeing the pumpkins, tangled vine wreaths and the sunflowers popping up on doors and tables everywhere. They lead me to thinking of my favorite holiday…Thanksgiving.

Growing up, more than any other holiday, Thanksgiving was all about family. As the leaves began to change colors and fall in the yellow sunlight, sweet memories of our kids playing at Mom’s house begin flooding my mind.

A look into the Jeffcoat family’s time mirror…

My Dad, with the help of my brother, installed a wonderful playset on the lot next to Mom and Dad’s house years ago. As we pulled into the driveway, our kids would be fighting seatbelts to be the first to climb to the top of this solid redwood world of adventure.

As one child would be boarding his pirate ship, another sought the tower of her Cinderella castle. Little imaginations running amok as dimpled cheeks would smile and shout out to cousins to come and join the fun. First, second, even distant cousins became different beautiful, colorful flowers in the same redwood garden.

The family dogs would be running around with the children, tails wagging, many in watch over the kids as they sniffed around. Many of the family pets would take their first ride down the slide before the holiday was over. This became the foundation of connections that caused all our children to become lifelong friends.

Fun is Our Middle Name

Listening intently, you could hear car doors slamming as people arrived, unloading dishes of deviled eggs, casseroles, and pies still warm from our ovens back home. Glancing over, we would witness the kids and their cousins playing safely, surrounded by a lot of smiling, laughing, and hugs all around. How long had it been since we were all together? Despite the joyous reunion, there was still much work to do before dinner would be served. With gratitude, we would head inside to get things ready, reassured that the kids wouldn’t be underfoot, knowing they were joyfully engrossed in play with their cousins.

Each fall is a time for reconnection – watching football, talking, and laughing in the kitchen for hours. Pairs and groups of aunts, uncles, cousins, in-laws, and (of course) grandparents catch up on each other’s lives around the kitchen table. Meanwhile, out around the children’s castle/pirate ship/mountain of redwood, the adolescents and teens shared their secrets, plans, and troubles while reveling in the new additions to the playset: climbing walls, higher swings, and taller decks to accommodate their growing bodies.

How we loved coming out after dinner and a ballgame, perhaps a nap, to watch our children play and show us tricks. Observing their little muscles at work as they climbed the rope swing, their tiny feet with dirty toes splayed out as they began to slide. The teens patiently waiting for the young ones to tire so they could lay out sleeping bags on the deck and gaze at the stars. My, how they grow; oh, my, how time carries on.

Backyard Fun Factory brings the “fun” to your backyard!

Today isn’t that much different. Enjoying the new deck porch swing that was installed so we could watch our grandchildren explore the world their parents loved a generation ago. We watch our children watch their children and delight in how close the cousins are. We love the dirty faces and tangled hair of our little grand-monkeys, running in a frenzy, chasing one another around, up and down the huge structure. The grandchildren’s parents aren’t too afraid to demonstrate their expertise on the monkey bars and climbing wall if needed, which always brings giggles to the crowd.

Now, these childhood playmates can begin to grow up to be forever friends like their Mama’s and Daddies did. And their parents, the beautiful flowers of the past, have scattered where their lives have blown them, but always strive to make it to Thanksgiving…where they can tell the stories of their fantastical childhood, to their own children and reminisce with their cousins about the magic of past Thanksgivings and fun on their Redwood Giant.

Written by Jana Jeffcoat Huggins

Fort Worth/White Settlement Showroom                                                                                        Frisco Showroom

7600 White Settlement Road                                                                                                              301 King Road Suite 1

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