Norman Cook Public School

Equipment by GameTime.

Surface: Wood Chips.

As we pulled into the parking lot of Norman Cook Junior Public School, I suddenly realized where I recognized that name: Norman Cook is the real name of Fatboy Slim, breakbeat legend whose music was the soundtrack to many nights out in my university days. I was imagining a school that plays “Praise You” every morning following the national anthem, and whose principal is lovingly referred to as the Funk Soul Brother.

Alas, a quick Google search confirmed that this was not the case. The Norman Cook in question was merely a school trustee during the 1930s, and who probably never deejayed at all.

The playground was similarly disappointing, but a pleasant enough place to kill a half-hour before taking my son to soccer practice.

There are only three real play structures: a small climber with a triple slide, a climber with a circular middle section that always makes me think of a vinyl record, and a volcano climber that we don’t see often enough, and that both my kids really love.

Behind the school is a nice large field with soccer goal posts and a baseball diamond. There’s also a fenced-in area presumably for toddlers, but it was locked when we went, and besides, two locals were using as their own private off-leash area for their dogs, which I thought was a particularly douche-y move.

I didn’t think much of the place. But as they so often do, my kids had a perfectly good time, proving once again that my rating system is really for my own amusement, because kids (as you’ve probably noticed) can have fun just about anywhere. Here, their entertainment was going down the triple slide backwards, which elicited much giggling from the two of them.

I just stood there watching them from a distance with a goofy dad smile on my face, thinking of how much they've both grown up in the many years we've been exploring playgrounds. To quote Norman Cook*: "We've come a long, long way together, through the hard times and the good."

*The cool Norman Cook. Not the depression-era school trustee.