Join the discussion
Write your take first — we'll ask for email only when you're ready to publish.
- Hacker News
- Me and my family we live in a 60 square meter flat. I bought a trampoline for my kid. We used it like 3 or 4 times. I store it in a basement, thanks god I have relatively big basement.by gitowiec
- I had no problem treating raising kids as throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks—and to be sure, a lot of stuff did not stick.
Of course I had the financial means, which my mother did not. And so I was raised playing with typing paper and a few office supplies that she could "bring home" from work (as a secretary).
In the end it's hard for me to know if perhaps that wouldn't have been the better strategy: let kids learn to be creative with the most meager of playthings.
by JKCalhoun - I just took down part of our trampoline this morning, and it gave me the sads, because our kids have used the heck out of it over the years. When they were smaller they'd ask me to 'bounce' them, and they'd scream happy screams as they flew into the air. I was wondering myself if it'd end up being one of those things they used for a week and grew bored of, but they enjoyed it for years.by davidw
- I bought a medium sized above ground pool that the kids rarely used. More work than it was worth.
Next I bought a nice trampoline for the kids and the second it showed up at my door my dad commented that he thinks it was a waste of my money and that the kids don't even use the pool and the same would be true for the trampoline.
Well he has since apologized many times over after realizing my kids would put about 6 hours a day on the thing in the summer and even on some of the less then optimal weather days put in some time. My dad now keeps talking about the cost per hour the trampoline has gotten ($500 trampoline - 500 hours use = 1$/hr), well now I think he calculates it by the cents per hour no longer dollars.
by 14 - The hidden costs are in the ER visitsby 1970-01-01
- Work in ER, can confirm
- Almost everyone I knew who broke a bone growing up broke them on a trampoline. As an adult, every story I've heard involving someone's kids and a trampoline ended up involving a cast at best.
... And yet. I wonder. I can remember the feeling of freedom and joy in my body as a child, joy in movement itself that I have never recaptured in any meaningful way no matter how I ever tried to motivate myself to exercise...
Swimming is also dangerous, but is considered a very healthy and useful activity and skill. I could see a similar cost/benefit analysis for trampolines and other gymnastic equipment.
by gryfft - Or your home insurance company dropping your coverage because you didn't declare the trampoline yet they found it while surveying aerial imageryby dylan604
- My parents dug a hole in the ground for a trampoline, so it was flush with the ground. It was great because you couldn't accidentally fall off, and it was safer than doing any given stunt on regular ground.by dlcarrier
- I had exactly the same thoughts when I had my arm twisted to buy one for my 6 year old son.
10 years later, it’s still out there, netting ripped, legs all rusty, plastic getting brittle. And my 16 year old son still loves to bounce around on it with his 9 year old brother.
by danw1979 - You can buy parts to make it as new again
- I had a trampoline as a preteen, they are loads of fun for pretty much all ages. Kids and adults of all ages had fun on them. However, I would never in a million years own one or allow one on my property as an adult, because they are humongous liability and most insurance companies won't cover you if you own one. At some point my parents insurance company did some reconnaissance, saw the trampoline, and immediately cancelled their policy on the spot. They are also considered an attractive nuance, legally, so if someone breaks into your yard and breaks their neck on it you're considered legally liable.
As much as I like them, nothing is worth that kinda risk.
We only had one because my parents were extremely irresponsible people. (In other ways too)
by astura - I sweated the years we had a trampoline. It was visible from the street so anyone could have jumped on it and broke their neck. One of my children's friends did get hurt but fortunately, not enough to become an issue. They're a huge liability and not sure insurance covers them.by eweise
- Insurance… lawyers… No wonder most kids these days are glued to screens: liability free!
Went to an “amusement” park the other day (US). Throughput of people going down a waterslide at about 2 kids per minute. Insane. Wavepool? Cleared out every 15 minutes or so. Non-stop whistling by an army of lifeguards. Insane. A kid got whistled at because they had a kid on their shoulder. Okay… At least the cop walking around the park (in uniform) all day was nice and handed out stickers. That’s right, a cop at an amusement park. No wonder these places are dying and being turned into warehouses or what have you.
I ended up finding an insurance plan which explicitly covers trampolines. I now basically pay for the cost of the trampoline each year. Insane.
What a time to be alive as a kid in America.
by whoamii - Insurance does not cover them and if they find out you have one they are likely to cancel your coverage.
I'm not sure why "you can lose your home insurance for having one of these" isn't being brought up more.
by zzzeek - How did this common-sense-defeating liability culture actually start in the US? From a European perspective it is really strange to be liable in situations like this.by y7
- I've jumped on a trampoline effectively every day for the last decade.
I find it very relaxing it helps me de-stress and think about things deeper than I would sitting in front of a computer.
by HDBaseT - We bought a trampoline when our oldest was five. He didn't ask for it, we were just guessing. We got a good deal on one from Craigslist or similar that was brand new, still in the box, so probably like $50 or something.
He loved it and many years later he still uses it, pretty much every day that it's not raining. He's well past the age where I would have thought he would still be interested. We've replaced the mat and all the springs to keep it going.
Point being, sometimes you just don't know what kids will like.
by usefulcat - >A reminder to buy the kids things they say they desperately want.
If I were to follow this, I'd be spending half my days driving to stores to buy the thing my kids happen to "desperately" want today :)
Also a reminder that you're not obliged to _buy_ everything. Its kind of amazing how ingrained this is into a large amount of peoples' heads. You can get a lot of things for free or secondhand. I got my kids' large trampoline for free.
by lbrito - You could also... just... not get them anything unless they earned it according to rules that they agree with and believe in.
Of course that would require a lot more parenting than buying things.
by sublinear - I went on a backyard trampoline once as a kid and it ended with the entire neighbourhood searching for me. I just couldn’t stop playing with my friends and was hours late for curfew. I had forgotten to tell anyone where I was.
Fortunately, I integer overflowed my mom’s level of worry and she was too glad to have me back to be angry. Though, seeing her unwind from genuine terror was more effective than any level of scolding and I never again forgot to tell them where I was going.
Trampolines, man.
by Waterluvian - Did you quietly bounce? ...sorryby psd1
- I saw a kid crying in the middle of an elevator, she was twice the size of a step. And then the parents were angry at the kid as if that would make them appear as responsible parents. It doesn't.by dominicrose
- > seeing her unwind from genuine terror was more effective than any level of scolding
That's what every parent needs to understand. Learn your children to empathise with you and parenting will be a lot easier than Mr. and Mrs. Hothead want you to believe.
by spiderfarmer
I had a childhood acquaintance who was lost in the forest for half a day, and was found by a search and rescue in perfect shape, minus a missing shoe. His mom had that same reaction.…I integer overflowed my mom’s level of worry and she was too glad to have me back to be angry.by dlcarrier