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“You know how people have trampolines?”  Wait.  Let me back up, and start from the beginning.  My anxious 11 year old came home with knowledge.  Knowledge is good, it is what we hope our children get at school.  This knowledge was about “this virus that starts with a ‘c’ but it is killing people all over the world and now people in Cleveland have and that is not that far away from us and there is no more toilet paper in the world and what is happening? And why are you not talking about this and freaking out MOM?”  Deep breaths.  If you are a parent of a kid with anxiety, you know this pattern.  You know the sound of their building panic and rush to stop it like the toilet of BEEP about to overflow.  This explanation came rolling out of my mouth and before I knew it everyone understood.  Things calmed down, no one was diving off into the deep end of precaution or jumping to prove someone wrong.  Peace(ish) returned to our morning routine.  Admittedly, I had that shocked-impressed Mom feeling.  Maybe I actually know what I am doing here with this Mom thing, granted I am a Play Therapist and should be able to do this stuff, but you all know the “that worked” moment.  This is a short break down of how things went down in our kitchen on a random Thursday morning in March.

“It’s kinda like trampoline rules.” 

Because we don’t want people to get hurt.

Has anyone been hurt yet or hurt bad? 

No, but we want to avoid that when possible.  

Are we setting the trampoline on fire and demanding that all  trampolines all over the world are destroyed?

No, because we are smart people who know how to make good choices and form good plans.

What are the trampoline rules?

One or two people jump at a time.  

Why?   

Because if we go over two, then suddenly we are at 3, 5, 7, 12, 15,   22…and so on  

Why don’t we want that?   

Because it is dangerous.  

How? 

Well if you let Ava, then she will bring Olsen, and then Sam and Evan bring Grace because no one likes to be left out.  Then the Bree will be in charge so she will hop on.  And before you know it all 12 kids at the party are on the trampoline and it breaks or someone breaks an arm.

Why don’t we break this rule for some people or one special occasions?

Once you change the rule once, things get out of hand easily.

Is this a fair rule?

We think so.

What are some things we do to keep the trampoline a safe space to play?

We clean it, cover it, make sure there are no missing or broken parts, the net stays closed….stuff like that.

Any other trampoline rules?

Like no kicking or punching people in the face, no fighting over trampoline space, take turns on the trampoline, don’t hog the whole thing (yeah Belle!), not shoes on the trampoline, no mud or food on the trampoline, you forgot drinks Zander……(I will spare you the length of the rules because I bet you did not realize the needed detail of the ‘no picking your nose’ as a stated trampoline rule.) 

Great!  Anything else?

Don’t forget to sign the liability wavier so that no one takes all of our money, our trampoline, and our house because they don’t understand how to accept their own consequences…..(frankly, at this point I was laughing because hearing children repeat other adults is great!)

THREE, not brilliant, but fabulous kids age 7-11 just broke it down for  us…..

We have rules to keep people safe, it is not panic, it is safety.  We have rules so that we do not break things.  We have rules so that there is order.  Do not hog all the toilet paper, do not cough on people to prove a political point, do not try to break the Healthcare system to see if it will fall, do not quit your job because the world is on fire, do take care of yourself, do wash  your hands, do stay home if you are sick, do follow the rules and restrictions. 

Nobody wants to be ‘that kid’ who follows the rules but nobody wants to be ‘that kid’ who ruins it for everyone.  We will take  care of our trampoline and everyone will get what they need (and probably want) if we all just calm down, take care of each other, and follow the rules made for everyone’s safety.

I believe in you all; we can do this.

PEACE!