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| Daddy, George and Me. I'm the one in the dress . . . and curlers. |
My Dad had made me a new toy.
It was a large - very large (about 5 inches in diameter) button on a string.
Intriguing.
You would thread a long, heavy string through the holes of the button and knot it. Then you would push the button to the centre and grip one of the two loops of the string in each hand.
Now you held something that resembled . . . a button on a string.
But then came the exciting part. If you wound up the button, you could pull the string out away from the button on each side and it would unwind and rewind the opposite way.
If you handled it just right, you could keep it going.
All day.
Which I did.
And it created a bit of a breeze if you got it going very fast.
Which I also did.
Enough background . . .
Mom had just made a large pot of pudding and set it on the cupboard to cool.
I was waiting, rather impatiently, for the temperature to drop below the boiling lava stage.
That was when I got my, to date, greatest idea.
My button could generate a breeze. I had felt it. It would cool the pudding and I could eat it that much faster!
I pushed a stool over to the cupboard and climbed up.
Carefully, I manoeuvred my button over the pudding and pulled the strings.
It worked!
For a moment.
Until I relaxed my hands on the ‘rewind’ or maybe the ‘unwind’ stroke.
Then, it dipped and skimmed the top of the scalding hot pudding straight into my face.
And my hair.
And the ceiling.
The covering properties of a button on a string have never been fully explored. I think they should be.
I believe Mom was cleaning up pudding from the most impossible places for months.
Long after I had healed.
P.S. I still like pudding. I just prefer it on the inside.
It was a large - very large (about 5 inches in diameter) button on a string.
Intriguing.
You would thread a long, heavy string through the holes of the button and knot it. Then you would push the button to the centre and grip one of the two loops of the string in each hand.
Now you held something that resembled . . . a button on a string.
But then came the exciting part. If you wound up the button, you could pull the string out away from the button on each side and it would unwind and rewind the opposite way.
If you handled it just right, you could keep it going.
All day.
Which I did.
And it created a bit of a breeze if you got it going very fast.
Which I also did.
Enough background . . .
Mom had just made a large pot of pudding and set it on the cupboard to cool.
I was waiting, rather impatiently, for the temperature to drop below the boiling lava stage.
That was when I got my, to date, greatest idea.
My button could generate a breeze. I had felt it. It would cool the pudding and I could eat it that much faster!
I pushed a stool over to the cupboard and climbed up.
Carefully, I manoeuvred my button over the pudding and pulled the strings.
It worked!
For a moment.
Until I relaxed my hands on the ‘rewind’ or maybe the ‘unwind’ stroke.
Then, it dipped and skimmed the top of the scalding hot pudding straight into my face.
And my hair.
And the ceiling.
The covering properties of a button on a string have never been fully explored. I think they should be.
I believe Mom was cleaning up pudding from the most impossible places for months.
Long after I had healed.
P.S. I still like pudding. I just prefer it on the inside.
Oh dear ... and I thought it hurt when my brother caught my hair in one of those things!
ReplyDeleteHow did we survive to be grownups?
That would be an 'ouch'!
DeleteI think of my poor guardian angel. I kept him hopping! :)
A clever and easy toy! Mishaps with toys and sweets happen! Who knew chocolate cake and frosting on a plate while running would stain a carpet permanently?
ReplyDeleteAnd here we have the mystery stain from the great 1996 cake and icing debacle. Love it!!!
DeleteSome things you only need to try once.
ReplyDeleteThe lesson is burned into my brain. Literally . . .
DeleteJust when a mother thinks she has figured out all the things she needs to worry about that might hurt her children, one of the kids adds something to the list she hadn't even thought of! I hope you were not burned!
ReplyDeleteYeah. Never underestimate the talent your child has to invent new ways to get hurt! :)
DeleteOh man….I wish we could see a picture of this, LOL!!!! But seriously---I'm glad you were not badly hurt from the heat of the pudding!
ReplyDeleteReddened skin only. And I must have been a sight indeed!
DeleteSome lessons you had better learn fast! ouch!
ReplyDeleteI'll bet they never thought to include that one in the instruction manual! :)
DeletePudding seems so innocuous, how could a bowl of pudding possibly hurt anyone? Then I read this.
ReplyDeleteWe had similar toys, boys at school used to bore holes along the centre of their rulers, one at the 5 1/2 inch mark and one at the 6 1/2 inch mark and thread them with hat elastic to spin. I don't remember how well they worked, winding them up seemed to take a lot of time.
Man. If you ever got them spinning?! Yow!
Delete