My 10 Ft Trampoline

I was originally going to call this post "The Trampoline Fiasco," but thankfully this adventure has a happy ending. I bought a trampoline for Raccoon for Christmas, pretty much our only present since it's such a big item. We live in a townhouse with a very small front patio. The trampoline is 10 ft across and the space we have (to park our car) is only 6.5 feet wide. Oh dear.

Anything you're probably thinking about measuring, planning ahead, etc. was already said by my husband, several times. I know, I know. But I did have sort of a plan, to raise it up so the edge would hang over the adjacent cement stairs leading up to our home. It took a lot of work (setting up the trampoline first inside our living room, then taking it down, setting it up outside to measure how much I needed to raise it up, going to the wood warehouse, going to the carpenter's workshop, waiting for the pieces to be made, then putting it up again today). But what a satisfying feeling to finally see it all set up.

We all jumped on it today, along with some friends we had over for a Christmas party. This evening, Raccoon snuggled with my husband and then me on the couch while we watched some TV. This might be a normal moment in some families, but for us, it was a wonderful first, to be able to hold him while he calmly sat still. What a feeling of peace.

My perseverance (my husband calls it stubbornness/pigheadedness) finally paid off for Raccoon. I told my husband that maybe someday I'll help him fight for something he wants and it will pay off for him too. Once it was an accomplished fact, my husband even admitted that it was an okay idea after all.

Ah, success.