Dear Sandpit,
I would never have thought that less than twelve months into our relationship that I would preparing myself for a final goodbye.
It was, just under a year ago that we invited you to be a part of our home, and designated room for you next to our garden shed. You arrived and settled in the day before our eldest child’s fifth birthday and were quickly welcomed with open arms, spades and buckets.
Our children, and visitors too, have spent many fun hours digging through the beach sand that lines your belly, creating castles and constructing roads with diggers, graders and dump trucks. We were convinced that you were a perfect fit and that you would always be a part of our lives.
But then, after the initial honeymoon phase had ended, the cracks began to appear. It started slowly with small piles of sand in the lawn or on the verandah. Soon it was larger piles being carted around our yard being dumped into shoes and boots, hats and gardening gloves, on the trampoline or on our outdoor furniture.
Sand trails lead through our house and permeated our lives. The lounges and carpets are vacuumed more than twice a week just to keep the mess at bay. The bath must be rinsed of an evening to clear away the remnants of a sandy play.
Soon the verandah was covered in sand, the back door step piled high after a full bucket was dumped unceremoniously by our two year old when she was told she couldn’t bring it inside.
And so the first threat came. If the sand stayed in the sandpit and was played with there, and only there, there would be no dramas.
But the misuse of the sandpit was flagrant. The trampoline was coated in sand, the bbq shelves and laundry baskets too. Tea parties, though taking place in the sandpit, involved consuming sand and this is where the tale gets worse.
Our two year old suffers an ongoing nappy rash due to chaffing from the sand in her pooey nappies. Not to be outdone our four year old has also joined in those delicious tea parties and it is from painful experience (three times now) I know that sand infested poos do not flush away and must be extracted from the toilet bowl and disposed of thoughtfully elsewhere.
And here, sandpit, is where we knew that enough was enough. The piles of sand on the carpet from where our children have dumped it out of their shoes I could handle. I could handle the mess around the yard and the sand in the bath tub or losing my kitchen utensils for sandy fun. But sand and poo should never mix. In fact, sand should never be considered edible in the first place!
You, dear sandpit, are almost empty now, your contents gradually and then not so gradually eroded away by buckets, carts and tea cups and it is my duty to inform you that the sand will not be replaced. In fact, my husband has suggested that he will fill you in with potting soil and mulch and grow vegetables in your place.
So whilst we know that our children love you, this relationship is not healthy. I do hope you understand that this is best for all of us. We will look fondly on (most of) this time and remember your fun presence in our lives.
Thank you for all the good memories.
The Shaw Family
Originally posted 2014-06-10 03:44:15.