My wife keeps saying that our son would love a trampoline. This is in hindsight an obvious statement if you had ever seen him utilise any one of the three beds we have in our house. He is two and a bit years old and from the moment we had decided to get him a ‘big boy bed’, due to him out growing his cot, I knew that I would have to reinforce said bed. So with some spare short pieces of wood, approximately 100cm long and, let’s say, 15cm wide and one to fit as a sort of keel, I proceeded to make our son’s bed that bit stronger for the inevitable bouncing sessions that would take place upon it.
He now launches himself towards the ceiling in a string of successive springing motions until he notices that no one is telling him off for bouncing on the bed, which makes him lose his concentration and he tumbles in to a heap on the covers, laughing and gasping for breath at the same time. I’m relieved that he hasn’t hurt himself and also quite pleased that the reinforcement has worked.
During my week away in the sunny, cloudy, rainy location of Whitley Bay (north-east England) I visited my brother and his family in Newcastle. There, placed quite close to a thick set of bushes and trees which formed the boundary to his garden, was an eight foot trampoline with enclosure.
My son has never seen a trampoline before, that I know of, but when he saw the one in my brother’s garden he looked on it with wonderment. Somehow he knew the potential that such a structure holds. Unfortunately for him he was only just two years old and the understanding of things is quite low in a two year olds skill set and the consequence scale has never even been touched upon.
Enter my nephew. He’s eight or nine, I never remember, but when he saw my son’s face and the connection he had made with the trampoline my nephew knew that he could be the hero to my son that he thought he was obviously lacking.
Alarm bells should have gone off in my head when my nephew had to remove this season’s crop of elderberry fruit from the mat of the trampoline, which left a rather ominous covering of blood red juice smeared across the fabric and tea towel he was using and, i thought, my son’s trousers in the near future. But no, I’m one of those people who like to watch things play out. I wanted to see what my son would make of the whole experience. I won’t let paranoia spoil what could possibly be a nice happy, joyous experience that my son could have.
There is a reason that trampolines should only be used by over three year olds. There is also a reason that only one person should use a trampoline at one time. These are two facts that are now very well underlined in mine and my son’s heads.
My nephew was stood in the enclosure on the trampoline mat. I thought he was just waiting for my son to climb in and start to wobble, roll over and eventually start to bounce. I thought that my nephew would just watch my son ‘have a go’. How wrong was I? Very it turned out.
Within a matter of seconds of my son’s entrance in to the world of trampolining my nephew bounced once, my son then rode the shock wave that rippled across the trampoline. His upward motion was increased several times over than if he had just had that first go on his own. His feet now headed towards the moon and his face towards the nylon mat.
Watching a two year old trying to make his way off an undulating trampoline mat whilst trying to concentrate on crying his eyes out is quite heart wrenching (or do I mean quilt making), especially when you know that he shouldn’t have been on there in the first place and you know that, fundamentally, it was your fault.
My wife thinks that our son would love a trampoline... right now I’m not so sure.
Subscribe