Playground Rules

Have you ever wondered why the playground feels so wild and creative? It’s more than just the slides and swings. The real fun comes from the silly, secret rules that only kids understand!

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:15

Welcome to the Cashley Show. We are Kevin and Ashley. We started this podcast after recent tragedies to take a break from negativity and discover the good news and things happening all around us. We're gonna kick off today with a shout-out. We would like to say hello to Ada Finley and Knox. This episode is just for you.

SPEAKER_01 0:37

Just for them? Everyone else, see ya.

SPEAKER_00 0:41

Get out of here. Today we're talking about the rules of the playground.

SPEAKER_01 0:47

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 0:50

The playground isn't just for running around. Maybe you're racing to the swings or pretending the ground is lava. But the best part is making up your rule your own rules with your friends. Superhero jumps from monkey bars and secret passwords in the tunnel make every playground an adventure to remember. The first one is Red Rover, the game where your friends actually want you to run straight at them, hoping to either hold the line or end up in a pile of laughter.

SPEAKER_01 1:22

Do they still play this game? Like we played it in PE in elementary school.

SPEAKER_00 1:27

We played it in recess, but like the last year or two it was banned because people kept getting hurt.

SPEAKER_01 1:33

At your school? Like when you're when you're little?

SPEAKER_00 1:35

Yeah, so I don't know if they I doubt they play this.

SPEAKER_01 1:37

They probably don't even know what Red Rover is.

SPEAKER_00 1:39

No, because it is you will get hurt playing this game.

SPEAKER_01 1:42

They're not allowed to do physical games anymore. No running.

SPEAKER_00 1:47

Yeah. When we lived in California, the kids couldn't even play on the playground or in the grass if there was any dew on it.

SPEAKER_01 1:57

Slippery.

SPEAKER_00 1:59

But here you can play in the grass on the playground if it's snowing.

SPEAKER_01 2:04

Snowing, raining.

SPEAKER_00 2:06

Several feet of snow. Doesn't matter. The ground is lava, is a game where everyone turns into a gymnast, jumping from benches to swings to avoid the pretend lava below. Shoes become lava proof boots. And that patch of grass is off limits unless you want to get lava fied.

SPEAKER_01 2:26

Don't they have like uh the floor is lava like game on TV? Like a TV show game?

SPEAKER_00 2:32

Yeah, they have a TV show. I think it was on Netflix. We have the like a board game. Right. It's not really a board game.

SPEAKER_01 2:38

We set out the cards. Yeah, you have to jump from thing to thing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:43

It's fun. Yeah, kids always love it. Floor is lava.

SPEAKER_01 2:45

Floor is lava. This has been around for as long as there have been floors.

SPEAKER_00 2:48

Yeah. Grounds. Alright. Tag backs are only allowed if everyone agrees.

SPEAKER_01 2:56

Yeah, no tag backs. There's never tag backs. You always say that. No tag backs.

SPEAKER_00 3:01

Nothing ends a tag game faster than endless tag, you're it. No, you're it. Back and forth. So everyone has to agree on tag backs.

SPEAKER_01 3:08

And does just the shirt count? Because sometimes you got big shirts and like when you're fast, it's out behind you and someone tags your shirt. That was always an argument when we played tag. I got your shirt.

SPEAKER_00 3:18

That's not me. I couldn't feel it.

SPEAKER_01 3:20

Yep. That happened a lot too. I I didn't feel it.

SPEAKER_00 3:25

That's funny. The last one to the swings is a rotten egg.

SPEAKER_01 3:29

Ew.

SPEAKER_00 3:30

Nothing makes kids run faster than being called a rotten egg.

SPEAKER_01 3:34

It's being called a rotten egg has been around, I think, since before we were even kids. Like that is I wonder how that's stuck for so long. Yeah. Because it's not like I mean with refrigeration and stuff. Like when was the last time someone smelled a rotten egg?

SPEAKER_00 3:49

Uh we have because we have chickens and they hide them. They hide them. And they're stinky.

SPEAKER_01 3:55

Well, I haven't smelled a rotten egg in a long, long time. Like the last time I smelled the rotten egg was actually sulfur at like some sort of volcanic national park.

SPEAKER_00 4:05

Or at the hot springs.

SPEAKER_01 4:06

Yeah, that's true. They did Michael Jordan tag for a while.

SPEAKER_00 4:11

Oh really?

SPEAKER_01 4:12

Where like you you hit people on the top of their head and you say Michael Jordan. I'm not exactly sure why that means Michael Jordan, but I don't think it's gonna make you taller when he hits him on the head. Michael Jordan.

SPEAKER_00 4:23

Didn't you do that somewhere?

SPEAKER_01 4:25

Yeah. Yeah, ran around with a bunch of kids. Yeah. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00 4:28

Hitting them on the head. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 4:32

It's like Adam Sandler and Billy Madison. Is he just nailing all those kids with the ball?

SPEAKER_00 4:37

Next one. Whoever swings the highest at the playground, there's always one kid who wants to swing the highest. His name's Kevin. Yep, that's definitely me. As soon as someone gets really high, they become the king or queen of the playground until someone else swings higher.

SPEAKER_01 4:53

Nobody's swinging higher. We used to flick shoes off. They get to the top, you're like, just flick them off. Yeah. I love that swing in Texas. I was I was an adult, a full-grown adult swinging on that swing in Texas.

SPEAKER_00 5:06

What like 10 feet high? The poles?

SPEAKER_01 5:08

It was taller than that. It was at least 15 feet. Oh, really? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:11

Yeah, they had old playground equipment in Texas.

SPEAKER_01 5:16

Back before they were worried about kids getting hurt. Yeah. Because I was a little scared. Like swinging when I was going as high as I could.

SPEAKER_02 5:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:22

Like I was a little scared. Because I'm up in the air, I don't know, 20 feet or so, because you go higher than the bar, right? Yeah, and like going so fast that like that downswing. Like I had to hold on tight because it was like trying to yank me off the swing. Yeah. It was pretty fun.

SPEAKER_00 5:38

They also had a really tall metal slide. Yeah. You don't see metal slides anymore. All right. Monkey bars means no touching the ground. It's shark-infested water. The playground turns into the ocean. If you slip, your friends, the sharks, are ready with chomping noises. Did you ever play that?

SPEAKER_01 5:57

I don't think we ever like necessarily played that, but like basically the same thing where you had like monsters or whatever, and like yeah, you're running around the whole playground and the climbing stuff and the monkey bars and climbing up on top of the monkey bars. We used to always get in trouble with like the teachers because we'd be up on top of the monkey bar standing. We'd be up on top of the slide, and like the monsters are climbing up the stairs of the slide, and there's one down at the bottom, so you have to like jump off from the top from the side. We used to always get in trouble with that. I have to. They'll get me.

SPEAKER_00 6:29

Alright. The fastest runner has to count extra slowly in hide and seek. It's only fair.

SPEAKER_01 6:37

Don't punish me because I got good jeans.

SPEAKER_00 6:40

It sucks for everyone else.

SPEAKER_01 6:42

Have better genes. Survival of the fittest.

SPEAKER_00 6:45

If someone yells freeze, everyone everyone must strike their silliest pose. The playground turns into a gallery of funny statues. One kid mid-hop, another crossing their eyes, and someone else doing their best upside-down chicken. It's hard not to laugh when everyone's pose is so silly.

SPEAKER_01 7:04

How many different types of tag are there? That makes me think of like freeze tag. What were the kids telling us? Some of the other tags that they play at school? We have to do all sorts of weird stuff.

SPEAKER_00 7:15

I don't remember.

SPEAKER_01 7:17

Okay, well I guess that's the end of that.

SPEAKER_00 7:19

Alright.

SPEAKER_01 7:20

Just one, just freeze tag. It's only time.

SPEAKER_00 7:23

Just regular tag too. You must invent a superhero name before climbing anything. Only superheroes climb monkey bars. Before you start, you have to say your secret identity. Like the Captain the amazing Captain Noodle Arms.

SPEAKER_01 7:40

But it's a secret identity.

SPEAKER_00 7:41

You're true. That's true.

SPEAKER_01 7:43

You can't say your secret identity.

SPEAKER_00 7:45

Telling everyone. If you find a pebble, it's automatically a treasure and must be protected. Every kid becomes an explorer, and that little pebble is now a priceless gem. It goes in your pocket, gets checked for magic, and gets a secret name like the legendary stone of awesomeness. Someone tries to take it, get ready for ninja moves and a chase. And you have a whole pile of them at home, I'm sure.

SPEAKER_01 8:10

Yeah, our kids our kids love rocks. I used to like rocks a lot as a kid too. All the cool different designs that are part of rocks, shapes, designs, colors. They're still pretty cool.

SPEAKER_00 8:21

Yeah. Rocks are fun.

SPEAKER_01 8:23

I'm not as into them though. When I'm on hikes, I don't put rocks in my pocket anymore.

SPEAKER_00 8:29

You should.

SPEAKER_01 8:31

Unless it's a really good one.

SPEAKER_00 8:35

Maybe some petrified wood. Yeah. Finding a big stick at the park. There's nothing better than finding the perfect big stick. Suddenly you're a wizard, a knight, or the conductor of an invisible orchestra. The stick can be a magic wand, a pirate sword, a walking staff, or even a drumstick on the slide. Everyone else wants to borrow it. We went to a field trip last week. I went with one of our kids, and a girl found a big stick. And the teacher's like, put it down. She would not put it down. You can't take it inside. Put it down. You can't take it on the bus. Put it down.

SPEAKER_01 9:10

It's like a dog with her stick.

SPEAKER_00 9:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:12

Bringing it everywhere with them.

SPEAKER_00 9:14

Seems like it always becomes a hitting object. Yeah, the kids.

SPEAKER_01 9:18

When I was in high school, we did our biology field trip. So we go to the coast and walk the trails and do all the tide pools and all the stuff, learn the plants and animals and things. We're supposed to be nice to like everything, right? But I had a stick, I found a stick. I'm in high school, right? I was like a sophomore. I had a stick, and there's this big tall plant, right? And there's like a group of us, there's a big tall plant, and I was like, on guard. It's just wow, wow, wow, wow. Like just like whack this plant all the way down to like nothing down the bottom. And then like I turn around to go. I'm like, as everyone else, and I turn around to go, and there's a teacher standing there just staring at me. It's like I turn around, I have the stick, and it's got like pieces of the plant hanging off it and everything. It attacked me. Put the stick down.

SPEAKER_00 10:06

Leaving the playground with sand in your shoes. No matter how hard you try, it's the ultimate playground souvenir. You can shake, stomp, and do that awkward sand dance, but somehow there's always more lurking. Congratulations, you're officially walking, talking beach.

SPEAKER_01 10:23

I don't see a lot of sandboxes anymore. No. Like playgrounds and stuff aren't really sand. Yeah. Maybe that's why.

SPEAKER_00 10:29

Probably. We have a sandbox, but it's away from the house, so the kids have to go they don't wear shoes either, but they have to go through the grass to get to the house. So sand's generally off by the time they get to the house, which is a good idea for anyone who wants a sandbox. Alright, this one was short. Do you have anything else?

SPEAKER_01 10:45

No, that's it. This is just for Finley and Ada and Knox. What else should we what else should we say?

unknown 10:52

I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 10:53

Finley, listen to your mom. Nox, you better punch Gunner. Ada, listen to your dad.

SPEAKER_00 11:02

So next time you're at the playground, remember the most important rule is to have fun. Whether you make up a new game or follow these silly traditions, every rule adds a little more magic up to playtime. Maybe your new rule will become a playground legend. Remember, even a small act of kindness can be someone's beacon in their darkest moment. Choose kindness every day. Reach out to someone today. You have the power to change a life. Be the signal of hope of this person.