Playground Rules

There's this structure at the playground that's kinda like a zipline.  Kids grab hold of a handle bar and zip down this rail... until they hit the bumper at the end and bounce back.  Many playgrounds have this but this playground is different.  The starting point is angled higher, so there's an initial slanted drop that adds to the speed and hence forth momentum of the zipline. 

Kids, of course, want to play this.  For someone of smaller stature, they can possibly touch the handle bar at the tail end of the ride while standing on solid ground.  But as they push the bar up the rail... and as it starts angling up... the higher and higher it gets, to a point where even full grown adults can barely touch it. 

So I stood there... observing different sets of kids try to conquer this trickery. They try all sorts of things.  Including climbing on the rail itself... inching themselves down to the end of the rail... but when they get there, there aren't enough hands to hold onto the zipline handle and then inch back up the rail.  Some of them jump... and slap the handle up the rail... but they don't have enough time to run to the ledge and catch it.  So the handle naturally falls back into position... down stream.

Finally... these 3 girls figured something out.  Three girls... two medium sized and one small size.  They lift the small girl up... so she can grab the handle.  Then the two hold her feet and walk her up stream.  This solves the "height" problem.  Then... they take turns riding the zip line.  If it's the small girl... the two medium sized girl lets her fly.  If it's one of the medium sized girls' turn... the other medium sized girl holds up the small girl just long enough for the other one to climb the ramp and step on the ledge.  I was truly amazed.  I smiled.  These girls... they figured it out.  Playground rules... where you have to work together, get creative, solve the world's problems one at a time.

I don't see boys doing that... I simply don't.