Swing Sets and Short People Have a Complicated relationship

One of the joys of being short is that you never have to grow up. One of my favorite things that I used to do as a kid is playing on the swing set. I would get a little bit excited when I would get to play on a swing set with my 4-H mentee, One of the things I learned quickly, is that swinging is a little harder for adults.

The kid I served as a mentor to could jump out of the swing as many times as she wanted, and would be just fine, but I was not as agile. I felt the jump in my ankles and knees, and it wasn't as fun as it used to be. When you are an adult, jumping out of a swing is not a good idea.

Another problem is pushing someone "underdog" on a swing. I ran into one of my mentees recently, and they asked if we could play at the park. I saw no harm in taking them over to the park to play, so I went over with them. I was attempting to do an "underdog," but it wasn't as smooth as I thought it would be.

I have done "underdog" on a swing before, so I didn't think that it would be a problem at all, but I was very wrong. On older swing sets the ground is usually lower underneath the swing, because of all of the wear and tear, and that creates a problem for a short person.

I was going back to start to push my mentee, and ended up underneath the swing when I started to go forward. It all happened in an instant. I didn't even see it coming. One second I was just pushing them in the swing, and the next thing I knew I was being dragged under the swing.

Luckily I hadn't pushed the swing very hard, so I didn't really get hurt. I was covered in wood chips, and maybe had a couple of scratches overall, but nothing major. I didn't even think being pulled under the swing was possible. After that I payed a little more attention to the small pit in the ground that I had been pulled into as a result of my first attempt to do an "underdog."

I still love swinging, and that didn't deter me from pushing people the "underdog" way on a swing by any means, but from that I have embraced my age a little more. Don't get me wrong, I still plan on being the same person, but I plan to think a little more about my limits with my height. Life is all about the adventure, but even adventure has some limits.

#ShortStories #SwingSets #ItsComplicated #LoveThemAnyway
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