I never actually had my own swing set. As a kid, my family moved around quite a bit, and I guess there wasn’t time or space to put down footings. Not a big deal – there were always neighbors with swing sets, and I still had plenty of fun.

I still love to swing! Whenever I have an opportunity to visit a park or a playground, I secretly hope I will see a swing set. I will get on it and pump my legs until I am as far off the ground as I can possibly get. My husband pretends he doesn’t know me.

When we visit our winter house in South Carolina, I love going to the park along the river, where, instead of benches, there is a lovely row of double swings overlooking the beautiful view. On a hot day, it’s wonderful to sit there and swing to create a breeze. On cold days, the swings face the sun and it’s a great place to warm up – maybe while holding a cup of coffee. While I’m swinging, I often see a dolphin or two cruising up the river. It’s a terrifi c place to hang out.

When my kids were little, I invented a game we called “the swing game.” My daughter would sit on my lap and we’d get the swing going high. Then, on the downswing, I’d call her a crazy name like, “you onion!” On the upswing, she had time to think; then, on the next downswing, she had to come up with an equally crazy name for me like, “you turtle shoes!”

“You sauce!” was her go-to name when she couldn’t come up with anything else. This went on for a while until we had each other giggling.

The swing we used was a pine plank about 12 by 24 inches. I had holes drilled in it for the rope and I stenciled a cute design and put some polyurethane on it. With the rope, I don’t think I paid more than eight dollars for it. It hung from a tree in the backyard.

This week, my husband and I went to get my grandson a gift for his first birthday. Because I love to swing, a swing set seemed to be a good choice.

Swing sets are much more complicated now than they were when I was a kid. First, they are now called “swing systems,” which, you can imagine, adds significantly to the bottom line.

Once upon a time, a swing set was made of hollow metal tubes – two “A” shapes at the ends and a bar that connected the two As going across the top. From that bar hung two or three swings. They sat outdoors in the meanest winters and the rust usually took hold pretty quickly. The swings had an awful squeak until somebody’s Dad got out the grease.

The more advanced sets had a slide or a glider, but those were the only extras available.

Now, buying a swing system requires that the purchaser spend many hours studying the catalog that gives the basic shapes and then tells you what options you can choose to add on. The systems all have fancy names like “the contemporary,” the “summer retreat” and the “cabinette.”

The basic sets come with little play huts on stilts that have a sandbox underneath. You can use a ladder or upgrade to a “gangplank” to get up into the hut. Rock climbing walls are a cool option and can be used as another way to get into the hut. I’m not sure what you are supposed to do in the hut, but there are plenty of ways to get in there.

The slides, which are now made of plastic material, are now molded with bumps and curves, and are a huge improvement over the metal slides that used to heat up to about 150 degrees in the summer.

Two or more of the systems can be joined together with a bridge connector to completely cover the backyard.

These systems are truly impressive.

My grandson is only one, so it will be a while before he’s figuring out the rock wall or trying to come up with an activity for the hut, but right now, he can use the baby swing – and he’s all about the sandbox.

It will be a few weeks before the system is delivered and set up, but I am already coming up with crazy names to call him and looking forward to having a place to go swing whenever I feel like it.