[blparent] playgrounds and climbing structures

[Erin Rumer]

Hello Ronit,

What you did was quite appropriate and just fine for the situation.  I think
that even if I were a sighted parent I'd be up on the play structures with
my new walker because any parent couldn't react quick enough to save their
child from a fall unless they were right there with them.  Please don't feel
like you're the only parent that does that kind of thing or that you had to
be up there with your son because you're blind.  Just yesterday I brought my
22.5 month old son to the park and there were a few of the sighted parents
crawling around on the play structures with their kids because their
children were early walkers and more wobbly.  Even with my son now running
around and climbing like an old pro most of the time, I still like to be
quite close just encase.  I'm especially worried most at this age of the
older kids getting too rambunctious and knocking my son over or off of the
structure all together.  I love socializing with all of my girl-friends but
some parents are so caught-up with shooting the breeze that they're
oblivious of what their child is doing.

I know that your son might be frustrated with you for keeping a hand on him
and that's a wonderful sign of independence, but it's also something he will
learn needs to happen in certain situations.  The only thing I can think of
that might prove as helpful to you in the future is to ask another parent in
the beginning to keep an eye on your son while you explore the equipment on
your own.  This way you can really check things out without worrying about
your son and it will make playing with him on the equipment much more fluid
and enjoyable for the both of you.

Hope this helps.

Erin and Dawson.

-----Original Message-----
From: blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Ronit Ovadia Mazzoni
Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2012 2:13 PM
To: 'Blind Parents Mailing List'
Subject: [blparent] playgrounds and climbing structures

Hi everyone,
I know this topic has been discussed before here but I wanted to share my
experience with a playground that I had last week to see if any of you had
any suggestions for me.
 
Last week I took my 17-month-old son to a playground that had a toddler
climing structure. It was quite large and had several slides and bridges
attached to it. I went with a few other moms so I wasn't there alone but
when my son wanted to climb on the structure, I wanted to follow him. I
climbed up after him and kept a hand on him all the time. HE's a new walker
and I was afraid he wouldn't know better if he got too close to an edge
where he could fall off. I had never been to this park before and wasn't
familiar with the structure. I asked the moms to describe to me what was
ahead of me if I turned a certain direction on the structure since I
couldn't easily bring my cane up there. My son was frustrated that I had a
hand onhim the whole time but I was afraid to let him go too far ahead of me
without knowing what was in front of us. It was ok but I felt very
uncomfortable with having to ask for so much help and also I was the only
mom up there on the structure. I"m not as bothered  by this, but I'm
wondering if there is an easier way to do this. I know if I got familiar
with a place, it would probably be easier, but it wasn't possible with this
situation. I had a bell on my son but now that he's walking, I'm more
nervous. Also since I couldn't have my cane with me, I felt more nervous and
less able to explore quickly.
 
Thanks for any advice you can give.
Ronit
 
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