Trampoline for children - How to convince wife NOT to get one

Hey all,

My wife is now making it her mission to get our kids (under 9) a trampoline next week.

We've never broached the subject but when she told me this, I had to tell her I was avidly "anti-trampoline". I just don't see the risk/reward as high enough to get one. Our kids are athletic, ride bicycles all over and enjoy having a good time but I also know they are accident prone at times. I just feel i gotta draw the line on a trampoline.

Growing up in the 80s, a friend of mine had a huge one - with the metal springs and everything - and I'm damned amazed we never broke our necks.

My reasoning: why would I want to bring in something to my property that could bring more risk (paralysis, broken limbs) than reward. Same reason I don't want a pool either and am happy to take them to the city pool three days a week.

Also, our back yard isn't fenced in. Wouldn't having a big trampoline just be a lawsuit waiting to happen for other kids in the neighborhood?

My response probably wasn't the best to her, though: "Really? A trampoline? Go watch a video of a 60 year old woman pushing her adult child in his wheelchair because he broke his neck. You want that life? Why invite that possibility?"

Any of you have the "trampoline for kids" battle in your home?

 

I remember the dumb shit I did on trampolines when I was younger. My parents never let me have one. My friend had one, and man, I was always getting hurt on that thing. Falling on the springs, hurting my back, breaking my arm.

And yeah, if you don't have a fence for that trampoline (if it does show up) time to get yourself some Umbrella Insurance. I work for an insurance company and hear horror stories all day.

 

My sister has one for her kids (boys ages 3 and 5) and they love it. They don't go on it unsupervised and it has the big net walls around it to prevent them from falling off the sides. I guess there's a risk of injury, but I bet more kids get hurt more seriously on bikes than they do trampolines.

 

All you need to do is search "trampoline accident" on YouTube and you'll have more than enough ammo.

 

I think the kids should try to jump off the house and onto the trampoline, and when they get high enough they can grab on to the power lines and swing like a trapeze artist.

[/sunderland_family]

 

Show her this.

 

If she won't listen to you, maybe she will listen to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSCOL25621520070712

The nut: ER visits due to trampoline accidents more than doubled in a decade.

 

My neighbors' middle daughter broke her leg on their trampoline last week. And it was one of those "safer" trampolines with the side netting and padding.

 

A neighbor of mine had one. Let me think about what we used to do.

--Wrestling matches. Of course. Even better: First person to throw the other off the trampoline won.
--Dodgeball. We'd throw baseballs, basketballs, footballs, tennis balls, etc. at the person on the trampoline, who had to dodge them.
--Joust. American Gladiators-style. Grab a few pillows and beat away. First to fall off lost.
--Landing pad. Jump off the swings and onto the trampoline. Actually, this is how we broke it. One kid jumped off the top of the monkey bars onto the trampoline and the thing folded up like a taco. The cute girl in the neighborhood was sitting on the other end at the time, and he ended up collapsing on her. I still think he planned that. But there went our fun.

Good for fun as a kid? Oh, you bet. Fun for a parent? I can't see how. See if you can get a cage/net. I'll help.

 

My cousins had a trampoline. I used to LOVE going to visit. No one ever got hurt, that I know of, aside from the general "getting the leg pinched in a spring" thing.

But we were lucky. Looking back on it, it seems insane.