From Mr. Handsome:
Occasionally we like to use this blog to alert our readers about public safety issues. It is important for people to know what’s going on in the world and how to keep their families safe. We thought we would bring awareness to a major safety concern: dads being left unsupervised at the park.
Earlier this week, Ellie had an appointment and decided it would be nice if she dropped Little Buddy and me off at the park while she was away. It was the first time I had taken Little Buddy to a park alone, and I was very excited, although slightly nervous.
Thankfully there were only three other people at the park, a mom and two children, so there was plenty of room to social distance. I was impressed by how calm and collected she was, watching as her kids ran wild but still somehow keeping track of them. She was a real pro.
The park consisted of a large, multi-level structure with slides and ladders and other climbing structures coming off the sides. Basically a McDonald’s play place on steroids. Little Buddy was very excited. He immediately climbed up to the first level and started running. No big deal, I thought. The first level is only about four feet above the ground, and I can just stay right below him to make sure he doesn’t try to climb down the ladders.
While I was running along the side of the structure and looking up at Little Buddy, I didn’t notice one of those little horses coming out of the ground. You know what I’m talking about, those plastic animals on springs that kids bounce around on. Well you would think that the springs would make the horses pretty harmless if you were to run into them, but I am here to tell you that that is not the case.
As I picked myself off the ground, the mother on the other side of the park pretended not to look at me, as she tried to hold back a chuckle. I dusted off my pants and looked up, only to realize that Little Buddy had now climbed to the second level of the structure. “Little Buddy, come back down!” I exclaimed, to which he just laughed and kept climbing. He then grabbed a horizontal pole and started to swing on it.
I knew I needed to climb up there and get him down. I thought the easiest way would be to scale the rock wall, but when I got to the top and tried to squeeze through the child-size holed, I got stuck. So I jumped back to the ground, climbed the fireman’s pole, and raced towards Little Buddy. I tried to slide under the horizontal pole, but I unfortunately I didn’t get low enough.
When I finally stopped seeing stars, Little Buddy was rubbing my head, saying “Daddy got ouchy.” The mom with the two children was holding her sides and shaking as she attempted to hide her laughter.
After that, Daddy decided that playgrounds are too dangerous, so we went into the open field and played tag. Little Buddy got bored of that pretty quickly and started pulling flowers out of a nearby flowerbed. “Buddy weeding,” he said, as I picked him up.
When Ellie finally returned to pick us up 30 minutes later, we were sitting on a park bench, and Little Buddy’s hands were covered in dirt. Unfortunately, there were some tears flowing. “Mr. Handsome stop crying,” consoled Ellie. “It couldn’t have been that bad.”
“Daddy got ouchy” explained Little Buddy.
As we drove away, the mother with the two children gave Ellie a look that said, “Honey, you should know better than to leave you husband unattended at the park.”
Great story. Be safe Mr. Handsome. Mary Keim
That was an awesome post!!! Keep writing Mr.Handsome! We really enjoy your humorous posts!!
Mr. Handsome you are a great writer! Thank you for the laugh.
Yeah, playgrounds didn’t really get fun until my kids hit around 3-4. Before that there were just too many things for them to get hurt trying to do, and it was exhausting trying to keep up and be in a spot where you could let them explore but stay mobile to catch them if needed. Once my son fell about four feet from a play structure when I just couldn’t quite get to him to catch him before he stepped off backward when a kid tried to grab something he was holding. He was 2 at the time. He was fine, a couple scratches and a little shaken up–but I was probably worse off than him in my panic! We stayed away from big kid playgrounds for a while. I will also say that my knees are apparently lacking the cushion they once had because crawling through any sort of tunnel is really uncomfortable–assuming I can even get in there without banging my head first! And for real, if you go down a slide with your kid, watch their legs/ankles (and yours). That’s an easy way for something to get wedged and broken! My kids are bigger now, though my youngest still loves playgrounds! These days I just try to use the climbing and monkey bars as a workout and hope it counts!
Glad everyhing turned out okay eventually.
HAPPY and BLESSED EASTER
Joan,Marion and Marilyn
On my goodness your post was hilarious! You sound like such a fun father and I bet little Buddy loves his outings with you. Fun Dads are awesome!
Parents here don’t take their kids to the park anymore here. After someone stuck razor blazes on slides, so they were shutting them down.
I have notice Mr. Handsome had been writing the majority of the blog posts, (which are humorous and I enjoy) and I was wondering if everything is okay with Ellie?
Thanks for asking how I’m doing. That means a lot. We’ve had a lot going on lately, so he has been helping with the blog. He also really enjoys writing the posts. We’re doing well though. Still recovering from my miscarriages, but there has been a lot of happiness watching our Little Buddy grow and learn.
Ellie
Your moms name is still on the Duggar and Bates blogs…does she still help you with them? For some reason I always thought and took it that you did them all also.
She did at one point. Not anymore though 🙂
I’m so sorry. I wondered whether your lovely man was showing his support/ love by writing for your blog whilst you felt a bit raw. I’m glad he’s helping but wish you didn’t need any help ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Oh my!! I am still laughing!!
My prayers to you! I hope you are doing well and have confidence in God’s plan!💕💕💕
Thank you so much for praying for us, Susan. 🙂
I love Mr. Handsome posts ! There so funny:) Keep writing and I’m glad everything is ok!
Praying for you Ellie hope everything is well!
Thank you, Gabrielle. We really appreciate the prayers. 🙂
This is a funny post but I really hope that this isn’t actually the first time Mr. Handsome took his 1 and a half year kid to the park by himself. Men and women are equally capable at whatever they choose to do, and I don’t find the “incompetent dad” joke very funny anymore, men are just as capable of child care as women are. I hope Mr. Handsome takes care of his child without Ellie’s help for more than half an hour here and there.
I ADORE the incompetent dad posts! Keep them coming Mr. Handsome!
This was so funny! Y’all are great writers. I appreciate reading your work over the last 7 years. God bless you!