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Sunday, July 26, 2009

Everyone Loves A Slinky...Until It Crashes

Poor, humble slinky had had a rough day.

Constant attention bestowed upon a you by a toddler will have that effect, in much the same way that an overindulgence in frozen margaritas will muddle your own reaction times. Instead of being tossed into the kitchen toy basket (the savior of many meal-prep meltdowns), slinky lost control of it's momentum and had a head-on collision with a chair.




No amount of twisting or yanking would change it's state of deadly entanglement - in fact, it was only making the situation worse. I was afraid for it's survival.

Knowing they'd eventually wonder what had happened to the slinky, I prepared to have the talk with my daughters. The death of a beloved toy is difficult, and not to be taken lightly. Not when dramatic little girls are involved. But while I pondered how to break it to them, something altogether unexpected began to happen.

My baby girl started to free the slinky. She used a technique that I hadn't considered...

The Jaws of Life.




Lauren bit down on the closest available stretch of slinky, and pulled with all her might. She worked quickly, knowing that every moment was precious - this was a Dora slinky - and extraordinary measures were called for.

Pulling out all the stops to unwind the slinky from it's trap, she never gave up. Never questioned if the mangled toy was worth the effort.




Until she noticed a stray animal cracker that had lost it's head across the room. The slinky was given up for lost; the cracker was determined to be a more salvageable case. Ever the dedicated civil servant, Lauren abandoned the slinky to search out the severed cracker head. And slinky, so patient and kind, retracted back into it's tangle of twisted limbs.

Oh, the agony.



Update: The slinky is safe. Seeing it's distress troubled me greatly, and I vowed to untangle it, even if it meant my sanity would be lost forever. Many moments of cursing were employed in working at the mess, but slowly, ring by inverted ring, coil by twisted coil, the slinky was freed from the wreckage. You can sleep soundly tonight knowing the slinky is only slightly limping from it's near-fatal collision. But you can bet it'll think twice before approaching a staircase any time soon.

5 comments:

  1. I'm glad your Slinky fared better than ours did. Ours lasted, oh, perhaps 3 hours? I think our kids' train of thought was, "How much can we destroy this fascinating piece of twirled metal?" Poor thing. Ours is now a Slinky-free household :)

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  2. Hilarious! I've seen many a slinky in a similar predicament as they were often used as impromptu ropes or bungee cords by my siblings when we were growing up. That was a toy doomed before it was out of its package. I have to say, however, I love the satisfying swish-swish sound of a pristine metal slinky.

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  3. "The Jaws of Life"!!! Now that is funny. Many a slinky met an untimely demise in our house when my progeny were growing up. They were used for such things as hanging Barbies (always naked for some reason) from the upstairs railing, seeing how far they could stretch from tree to tree or I believe one time they were used as Christmas tree ornaments. Good times.

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  4. SO funny! Just what I needed right now! LOL!

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  5. Way to turn a minor domestic incident into a humorous story! Thank you for the reminder of how interesting everyday life with kids can be.

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Hmm...And how did that make you FEEL?