If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. All subscribers are automatically entered in our Car Seat A Week Giveaway. Thanks for visiting!

This past June we were looking down the nose of a loooong boring summer. We’d snoozed through camp sign up season, feeling rebellious and sick of driving carpool. We vowed we’d go to the beach and pool instead. The lure of staying home and doing “nothing” was strong too. It lasted all of a week. And then I heard the swine call of summer that every parent dreads the most. “Mooooooom. I’m so booooooored!!!”

“Go outside and play,” I responded. As if I was genetically programmed to say this, like my mother and her mother before me.

“Cool,” they said, seeing their big chance to sneak one over on me, ” can we go jump on the neighbor’s trampoline?”

Cue hair standing on end, visions of ambulances and general mom mayhem. I’m the unfun mom. The one who makes her kids ride bikes on the sidewalk and forbids them to jump on the neighbors trampoline.

Of course I swore early on we’d never get a trampoline. Never, ever, ever. This is what happens when you have an ER doc and a neurosurgeon in the family. Your kids wear helmets when they ride bikes, you look askance at sneakers with wheels and you swear off backyard trampolines. You embrace your neuroses.

But then I heard about Springfree Trampolines and one by one my objections were dealt with and dismissed. This isn’t the dangerous head injury-waiting-to-happen trampoline of my youth. In fact, it’s about the closest thing I have to a padded cell in which to toss my 18 month old whirling dervish. For this alone, the trampoline can stay. Honestly, I lay down in there with a good book and let him jump all around me when he gets into that kamikaze mode that usually ends in a headfirst dive off the couch. He gets his yayas out and I use fewer bandaids.

You don’t need me to tell you that jumping on a trampoline is fun. You’re probably not surprised to hear that rebounding is also good exercise. We can all use more of that, kids and adults alike. In this way, Springfree trampolines are like any trampoline. Bouncy, fun, and good for you. But they are also totally different in both construction and safety.

Springfree has eliminated the bulk of all trampoline accidents (impact injuries) by eliminating the springs and poles that usually pose a threat. Even with a thick layer of padding on top of the springs that surround traditional trampolines, impact injuries are common and can be very serious. Likewise, the poles that are traditionally used to hold up the netting (so your kids don’t fall off the trampoline) can cause serious injuries on old-style trampolines. Not so with the bowed, lightweight and flexible rods that hold the Springfree enclosure in place. Check out this video demonstrating the difference between the old style trampolines and Springfree.

Everyone in my family sat gaping wide eyed and slack jawed for a good long time when I told them we were getting a trampoline. They asked me at least five times, ” Are you SURE mom? Are you feeling ok? Can I borrow fifty bucks?”

But here’s the thing: After the kids go to bed at night, it’s MY TURN. My mom never let me have a trampoline. Too unsafe. That was then. This is now, baby! I’ve got air! Summer staycationing is a whole lot more fun when you turn off the TV and get on the trampoline.

I’d be a bum bouncer if I did not share with you a quick chance to win your own Springfree Trampoline Staycation. Bounce on over to Bellaziza’s Picks and comment on her review for a chance to win one.

One last note about our Springfree Trampoline? It’s not just a Trampoline. It’s also a clubhouse. And a perfect place to spend a warm summer night. This sleepover looked so comfortable, even I wanted to spend the night!

Related posts:

• Making the most of your Stress-free, Budget Staycation
• This Summer, Get out the “Green Toys” for the Kids