Swing Machine

We recently went to one of my 6 year old daughter E’s friend’s birthday. They had it in their backyard where there were a ton of kids and parents. Even though there was a lot to do, the kids started to get bored easily and when they are bored, it is a much bigger struggle to get a break!

My kids wanted to go home early from the birthday because they kept saying they were bored (which was a first at a birthday). We couldn’t go home before they cut the cake, so I told them we needed to stay. They wanted something to do with me, so I suggested that they get on this disc that was hung up like a swing and I would push them.

As I was walking up to the swing, one of the kids wanted to hop in the swing too. C and this other kid went first and I pushed them. They had so much fun that it attracted the attention of many kids. Pretty soon, there was a long line of kids and they all wanted a turn. I became a swing machine.

The kids sometimes would scheme and want to stay on longer, would want to get pushed higher (to the point where the edge of the disc hit the roof), and they were trying to skip the line. I had to enforce some general rules and convince these young kids to follow them. It was a scene. E was luckily also having fun and leading by example, so I had some help with what the other kids should do to get a turn on the swing.

After about an hour of pushing kids on the swing, I went to eat to take a break. Then the kids wanted me to go back to pushing the swing, so my second shift started. After a while, one of the parents decided to take over and I was finally relieved of my duties. Looking back, I’m glad that I got the change to provide some entertainment for bored kids. I’m also glad that they all had fun even though it was taking up all of my time there. I hope my kids remember these types of moments when they are older because having fun at birthdays as a kid is a blast. I know because I saw what that could look like if there is a swing machine.