I Love to Swing

Oct
20

Posted by: Maggie

There isn’t much that makes me feel happier in the world than swinging. It feels like joy and freedom and magic.

One of the things that I remember very clearly from when I was in elementary school is the times when my mom would drop us off at school early. I used to go to the playground and just swing. I think I’ve always been a little bit of a loner. I really like being alone. I always have. So maybe I liked it so much because it was a solitary activity. And maybe it’s because of my disability that there wasn’t a lot I could do on a playground, but I could swing.

There was this extremely tall swingset or maybe it just seemed so tall because I was so small, but I felt like I could swing so high. It was great. I would swing and swing and close my eyes and imagine myself as my favorite characters from the books I read. I’ve always been a reader. I would imagine I was Matilda Wormwood, or Ramona Quimby, or Anne Shirley. I wanted to be brilliant, and strong, and sassy, and brave, and witty like those characters. And when I was swinging I could imagine myself that way. And I felt free and happy.

Swinging always reminds me of being that little girl obsessed with the characters in those books. But swinging also reminds me of being a teenager.

It reminds me of being in love for the first time. I was sixteen. I think it was always a Friday or Saturday night and we would to go to the grocery store and buy a quart of Ben & Jerry’s and some plastic spoons and then go to a park, sit on the swings, and eat ice cream and talk and talk and laugh like crazy and just swing. And I was in love and it felt like magic.

And now I love to see Eleanor swinging. The wind in her wild hair. The silly smile on her face. I wish she liked swinging more than she does. She’s too active to sit in one place for very long. I think she’ll appreciate it more when she can do it all by herself. But watching her swing makes me so happy. I think that one of the best things about being a parent is that you get to be a kid again too. At least a little bit. You get to experience all of those wonderful little things about childhood all over again. You only get to watch this time, but it is still pretty amazing.

Comments: 3
Categories: Eleanor Stories, Maggie
Tags: books, Cranky Parenting, love, park, swings

Moving: Part Two

Jul
15

Posted by: Maggie

In the process of packing, out of the back of Eleanor’s closet came the swing that she used to take most of her naps in when she was just a few months old. It was the only thing that could put her to sleep outside of our arms. When she was about eight months old we put it away in her closet. She had grown too long, so that her legs had begun to hang over the edge of the seat and she was napping in her crib by then.

Now that it’s back out waiting to be moved, Eleanor has become obsessed with it. She wants to sit in it and swing all day long. She is still under the weight limit and she is tall enough to get in and out of it all by herself now so I let her swing in it all she wants. It has been a great distraction to keep her busy while I pack.

Eleanor’s First Trip to the Park

Oct
01

Posted by: Maggie

This weekend Eleanor decided that life indoors was totally played, so we went to the park! It was her first time. She’s always jazzed to go anywhere that’s not the living room, so she was excited. We made a bee-line for the swings. Eleanor seemed unsure about whether or not swinging was fun, at least until dad accompanied the ride with her favorite new song, “Pop Goes the Weasel”. That was enough for some laughs.

After the swings got boring, Eleanor explored the jungle gym. She was a little put off by all the sand, but really seemed to like climbing the levels and peering into the tunnel at mommy.