i don't know the gosselin's property layout but we live on 10 acres and happen to be in the process of building and placing a "clubhouse" for our son so i will share that it can be tremendously beneficial to have that type of thing "far away" from one's home as a tremendous benefit safety wise for a child. in our case, setting the playhouse "far away" provides us the security of having our home in between the only access to our property (so we can observe anyone approaching the access to the area as well as having our neighbors property backing up to it so their houses are in between their entrances and the structure) , as well as keeps our child from playing near any area that is frequented by traffic (on multiple acreage it's not uncommon for postal service, fed express, fuel tankers, pest control to come barreling up on what they perceive to be open land for parking). as far as communication our child will have an open line walkie talkie type device (similar to a baby monitor) in the structure as well as on his person at all times (5 mile radius-we've checked it out with vehicals traveling as well as on property). to prepare the land it not only entails clearing but leveling and determining the soil composition (you put a structure on bare soil with certain atributes and you are looking at inviting wet or dry rot, infestation of insects or ground dwelling rodents, and general excellarated decay of the structure)-it's not something a person just decides in a day (that is unless they have no concern to weather the structure will be utilized by the child or available for utilization beyond a very short time period).
can't speak to how well the gosselines communicate on this type of issue but we had to make extensive preplanning before deciding on placement-if it's a snow prevelant area you have to look at overgrowth (don't want the structure to collapse first winter), undergrowth (don't want tick or other insect prone undergrowth around the structure), water access and mowing access (keep the bad growth down, encourage the good-plus hosing down for general cleaning as well as -god forbid- fire safety).
i'm guessing not much planning on the gosselin's part went into this whole playhouse thing because if it had been left to them as would be the norm with a private party embarking on this, there would have been more than a quick thought given to placement, and a greater need for consideration and planning of placement than could have been quickly changed in one day.
p.s.-i don't tan (real or spray) nor do the majority of people i know (we grew up with too many other native californians who made that mistake in their younger years and ended up with skin cancer or premature ageing-the spray tanners were a source of ridicule there as they are where we live now), only do teeth cleaning twice a year and even when i worked 12 hours per day/7 days a week managed to do that around the kid's/family demands, getting coffee is the exception not the norm (as it seems to be with most of those i know despite us presently living in the "get coffee" capital of the u.s.), and grocery shopping? given that we (like the gosselins) utilize a freezer for our meat products that only leaves non perishables (produce, dairy and those grains we choose not to freeze) that necessitate regular purchasing (household goods are less expensive to purchase and store in monthly or moreso amounts) so a grocery trip can enjoined (as i did today) with a number of errands such that at best a once a week few hour trip at best is needed (and given that we are a 45 minute round trip from the closest store, could we get our perishables via the internet as we do many other items at a reduced cost from direct purchase/fuel costs-i might never need to shop but once per month
).
That was a big project and with that many people invilved it would have been nice of her to speak up than wait till the day of. I bet those guys had families they wanted to get home to and not be put in the middle of a marital dispute.They just wanted to put up those houses.
