Posted on 03/04/2009 7:09:17 PM PST by tobyhill
First daughters Malia and Sasha Obama got a big surprise after school Wednesday: a brand-new swing set.
They squealed with delight upon seeing it, a spokeswoman for the first lady said.
President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, went to work while the girls were at school, having the set installed on the south grounds of the White House within sight of the Oval Office, where their father spends plenty of time.
Late last year as the couple planned the family's move to Washington, they had discussed with the chief usher at the White House ways to make the historic residence feel more like home for their girls, said Katie McCormick Lelyveld, a spokeswoman for Michelle Obama.
Malia and Sasha, ages 10 and 7, had never lived anywhere but Chicago.
"Many first families have made these sorts of changes to make the White House feel like home," McCormick Lelyveld said. "This one is like their little mark."
The 100 percent cedar and North American Redwood structure has four swings, including a tire swing, a slide, a fort, a climbing wall and climbing ropes. There's also a picnic table with brass plates etched with the names of all 44 presidents, she said.
(Excerpt) Read more at google.com ...
The article states that the Obamas paid for the swing set.
The article says otherwise.
BHO does literally dozens of things daily to merit criticism. The building of this very nice cedar swing set/sky fort is not one of them however. Think of it this way...it will be used in four years by Piper and Trig; or by the Jindal children :)
You just can't pick one of those sets up and move it. Once their built...its kinda 'there.' Now I can understand property line infractions; zoning regs on side/rear yards building variances, etc...but do you really think 'line of sight' is an agrievance?
But, of course! It's the fault of people who might want to put a swing set up for their children ... not the fault of miserable curmudgeons who think that others shouldn't have a right to put a swingset on property that they have bought and paid for! Got it.
I love the word “curmudgeons”.
QED.
Care to explain that remark because I don't get it.
You know, this kind of Obama bashing gets tiring, let him buy his kids a swingset, the hatred of the man, his wife, and his children on this site I find most distatesful (flame on, isn’t this America, don’t I have the right to say that too?)
Piquaboy’s cowardly reply to me (via freep-mail instead of in a public forum) deserves to be outed.
Piquaboy wrote:
“You could say that I am calling him a monkey.”
By the way, the casual racism exhibited by piquaboy is emblematic of many posts I’ve seen here lately relating to Obama. It will be the downfall of FR and may be the one thing that causes me to leave after over 11 years here.
No, according to the latest focus group, test polling, AOL teen polls...All ponies are to be named Clip Clop!
Why get a pony when they can just get on Daddy’s shoulders and ride a horse’s ass.
No I’m not kidding. I’m also not suffering from derrangment syndrom. I think they look horrible in a yard and after growing up in a faimly that was always into real estate I know how much they lower property values and how much harder they make a house to be sold.
First of all ... this is the White House we're discussing, and I doubt that it is going to be listed and shown to prospective buyers anytime soon (unless maybe the Chinese are in the market). Perhaps you could post a photo of an acceptable play structure for the children, or is it your opinion that they should have no play structure because they live in the White House?
Secondly ... I don't know where you live or what kind of folks reside there, but a Rainbow play set does not lower surrounding property values. Then, you must understand that I live in an area that values the children of the community and we have nothing against them playing and having a nice playset upon which to climb and swing. Apparently, that is a dying concept in other parts of America.
I’m just telling you what I know. There were several houses in the past that sat unsold for 6 months with these in the yards.It was suggested to the owners that they take them down when first listed because of how they make the yards look, they didn’t take them down.After the first listing expired and it was suggested again, they did take them down and within the month both sold without lowering the price, I stand by what I said they look awful in the yard and DO lower the property values and is why most neighborhood groups don’t allow them to be in yards.It’s not about the kids it is about what these monstrosities look like.We are all allowed to have an opinon, mine is based on knowing what helps sell a property and what kills it’s chances.This in the yard limits it to people with young children when more than 50% of households now don’t have a child under the age of 18 and even fewer have those under 8yo.Yes they aren’t gong to sell the Whitehouse but it still looks awful in the yard.
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