Rules

I was thumbing through the student/parent handbook that A. brought home from school the other day, and I came across a list of Playground Rules. Doing my parental duty, I was sharing the rules with A. and trying not to express my disdain as I read them.

In particular, did you know that:
1. There is no running allowed on the playground. (This would explain why my son is bouncing-off-the-walls hyper when he arrives home).

2. The grass is off-limits from September through the end of April. Okay, really, I do understand that the school is trying to avoid 300 kids tracking mud through the hallways, but still. One of the cool things that A. and I had discovered when we'd gone to visit before school had actually started was that there were these fun stumps to climb on, and a small "grove" of 3 fir trees that created a neat spot to play in. He and I were imagining him playing there on recess with the other kids. Guess not.

3. There is to be no digging in the sand. My son tells me that the sand is only for walking on.

It was at about this point, with my son on my lap, that I accidently let slip out of my mouth the words "These rules are so lame!"

To which he replied in the affirmative. I had to tell him that I understood why they had the rules that they did, and that it was really important that he didn't go to school and tell anyone that the playground rules are lame. I told him we'd just have to play on the playground the way we want to when it's not school time.

BTW - I really am hsing my other kid right now. She's sitting down next to me creating a worksheet for me to do. It's important to keep Mom busy.