Hard lessons to be learned at the soft play zone

It may look like a world of spongy surfaces, bouncy walls and pits full of squishy balls, but the soft play area can easily reduce you to tears

My son runs toward me, crying. He has fallen in the indoor adventure playground. The room is enormous – an aircraft hangar of soft surfaces, spongy balls, trampolines and slides. It would, you’d think, be a challenge to hurt yourself in this environment, but it’s a challenge my son has accepted. He is not alone. A steady torrent of children streams from the cushioned gate down the padded steps to run, bawling, into their parents’ arms. We lie to ourselves that this is a place of fun. It is not. It is a house of horrors, a speed-run through trauma that parents use to toughen their children up. The cruel trick of such places is that the price of their enjoyment is a secret lesson in suffering and resilience. A kiss on the elbow, or a brief hug, and they’re back in the game, sprinting off for another eight-minute chunk of activity until their next life-ending misfortune.

This juncture between heaven and hell is my son’s favourite place on earth, and the place he cries most often. He calls it the ‘champoline park’.