When I think of summer, it brings to my mind things like sunshine, parties, popsicles, watermelon, fireworks, things that explode, and family vacations. It is extra special when you have something that combines all of the above, or at least a good portion of them. As I think of all of these things, I anticipate memories. And then I remember an occasion where most of these things were combined and I give pause…
The funny thing about our family is that while we love Disney, we haven’t made it to one of the parks yet. I mean, I went when I was 5 years old, but I am the only one who has ever been to one.
However, when Chandler was just a little guy, he had a set of stuffed figures which resembled the well known mouse characters from Disney.
While the rest of the world referred to these characters as Mickey and Minnie, Chandler insisted that their names were Bob and Mrs. Bob. We have no idea why. It was just the way it was at the time. If we tried to correct him, he would become extremely distressed.
Chandler took Bob and Mrs. Bob everywhere. They were his real imaginary friends. He needed to know Bob’s opinion on just about everything. If we went to the zoo, he had to make sure that Bob saw everything too.
Bob was Chandler’s favorite. But Chandler insisted that we have Mrs. Bob too since they were…yes…married.
Chandler also had a fascination during those years, like most little boys, with things that crashed and blew up. He still does…who am I kidding here? Anyway, during this time, Gary was the Cubmaster for our local troop. We had a fun pack meeting planned and it even included a cannon that we were going to shoot candy out of for the kids. You can see where this is about to go, right?
We went over to our friend’s house to try the cannon out so we were prepared. We all thought it would be fun to shoot Bob and Mrs. Bob out of the cannon for Chandler. We placed them in the cannon and set it off, anticipating the fun of watching Chandler’s friends fly through the air.
We did not anticipate that they would emerge from the cannon on fire. When we got the fire put out, Bob had scorch marks across his face and a melted hole in his butt. Mrs. Bob had scorch marks and a melted shoe. Chandler was hysterical.
Chandler was also convinced at this age that anything mom put in the washing machine came out new. He begged me to wash his friends. So we took home the scorched critters and I quietly placed them elsewhere and started a load of laundry. Meanwhile Dad ran to the local and well known variety store and managed to snag another set of friends for Chandler. The day was saved!
Lessons learned from our cannon experience?
- Never put anything into a cannon that you aren’t willing to replace.
- If you do decide to put something into a cannon just to see what happens, make sure there are replacements available.
- Read lesson #1.
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