Obama Girls Discover New Rainbow Play Systems Swing Set at White House

Malia and Sasha Obama - if they didn't read any Internet leaks - had a great surprise waiting for them outside Wednesday at the White House. Not a new dog, not yet, but a new Rainbow Play Systems swing set with tree fort, bought by their parents and installed by the company. Dozens of media outlets have reported the event, such as the Argus-Leader in South Dakota, which detailed the event in an AP article with photos and also celebrated the local Brookings, South Dakota, company that built it. In chilly early March weather, the Obama girls played for about an hour, it said, and Michelle Obama joined for a swing.

President Obama and and I are about the same age, but we spent our early childhood on opposite sides of the planet, his in Indonesia and Hawaii, mine where the American Revolution started. Our memories of play equipment are probably very different, but we probably played about the same. The Obama girls will, too, but on a vastly improved new generation of swing set. A Rainbow Play Systems swing set.

My home and playground climbing was on metal pipe and pinching chain swing sets and hot metal slides, lots of fun and a bit hazardous. We also had a homemade tree fort, a lot of fun to build but not something the later buyers of my parents' house wanted to inherit. The Rainbow Play Systems swing set the Obamas purchased brings all those memories into the present with a lot of thought given to safety, usability, and fun.

Quality woods carefully treated, coated metals, plastics and hidden fasteners replace the sources of many of my painful memories, and the 'fort' is a great kid space. Expandable and well engineered, attractive as well, the Obamas clearly put some thought into their children's outdoor playspace.

Though President Barack Obama is the "leader of the free world," he's also a father. He didn't go out on the White House lawn with instructions and tools (Rainbow Play Systems features professional installation for their customers), but he provided a top-notch place for his children's own space and play as his daughters grow in very unique circumstances.

Sources: "Obama girls get Brookings-built swingset", AP, http://www.argusleader.com/article/20090305/UPDATES/90305022