We used to play at the park a lot when we were kids. Our park, a bit of a hike and most often a car ride away was not much different than any other you would find in a small town.

Our equipment was made from steel poles, used for stripping unsuspecting children’s tongues of all taste buds and several layers of skin in the cold winter months and for crashing your head against in the summer months when you leapt off the swing in the air planning to be the first to run to the slide, instead landing you in the backseat of your car en route to the hospital.

The slide was metal, ripe for tearing dry skin if you weren’t smart enough (or abdominally equipped enough) to keep your knees tucked and ride down on your tailbone where you knew the polyester of your shorts was covering any skin that could potentially become exposed. If your skin didn’t tear on the slide, you could guarantee a burn of some sort.

You would find a line-up at the ice-cream bar later and could spot the kids who had the pleasure of park-play that morning based on the red rashes on the backs of their legs.

To add insult to injury, we would stand next to the ice-cream bar line with our carrot sticks and red “delicious” apples with our legs burning and no soothing, cool treat to help numb the pain.

I was in the hospital twice for park related injuries. The first was from falling off the unsafe swings and either hitting my head on the sand/concrete on the way down or being hit in the head with the actual swing seat. The second was from falling off the top of the slide to the ground.

In response to these injuries, parks have transitioned from buying their supplies from reclaimed prison yard equipment to the fancy, new, colourful, burn-free, soft-sided, well-maintained, slip-free, ergonomically friendly, recycled plastic, Funlands they are today.

When I re-visit the same park that brought me so much joy as a child and toughened me up, I can’t believe how much it’s changed. The padded walls, the spongy, patterned flooring, still, I stand back and think of ways kids could hurt themselves even with the newest in swing and slide technology. There is one new piece of equipment that has me baffled. Children stand in the centre (though several grip onto the outside and narrowly escape death) as this thing whips around at Gravitron speeds (one of the many fall-fair rides I threw up on). There are no age or weight limits, just painted orange bars shaped like a cyclone. “Come one, come all, spin till you fall.”

The ice-cream bar is still there. The kids in line don’t have the same number of bruises but many are suffering from nausea. (the dizzy killer)

My kids eat their carrots and apples and look for trees to climb.