My Instead: My grandkids, Abbey and Andy, and I performed two different science experiments with water.
After working a grueling
job for 6 hours Monday, it was my time. And my time sometimes means adding a few
other ingredients…not parsley and sage, but rather, Abbey and Andy. I gathered
them up from their home south of Smithton and followed the road back to
Belleville. Our first stop was the “fish park” (Roosevelt grade school’s
playground), our usually stomping grounds since it is so close to my house.
The park was fun as usual, but the agenda for the evening was full...Grandma had plans to do some scientific stuff.
So we had to limit the park time and get back to my house for some “Ms. and Mr. Wizard” time.
Fortunately, the kids knew I had something special in store for them, so it didn’t take much urging
to load them into the car and play like “Little Red Riding Hood”. Off to
Grandmother’s house we go.
The first experiment was
the one where you stick your finger into a bowl of water with pepper sprinkled
in it and nothing happens. Then you soap up your finger, stick it into the
peppered water again and the pepper scatters like crazy to the sides of the
bowl. Magic! Or so they thought. They loved it…but not as much as the next trick/experiment.
Why do kids love to do anything
that involves balloons? It’s a fact and Abbey and Andy are proof of that. They were “all in” during our
search throughout my house for balloons…I just knew I had some somewhere. Yes, you
got it…they were on the floor of my closet. We got two blown up, one for each
of them. I proceeded to light a candle and then instructed them to hold the
balloon over the open flame. Abbey went
first. Kaboom! Then it was Andy’s turn and with his nerves of steel, he held
the balloon over the flame just like big sister. Kaboom! Part I of that
experiment was done.
Part II. We filled two
balloons with water. "Am I really doing this trick in my newly-remodeled kitchen?" I thought. What
ya do for your grandkids! Then a moment of ingenious struck. How about putting
the lighted candle in the sink…just in case this doesn’t work like on the
YouTube video. We held a water-filled balloon over the flame. No kaboom. We
held it over the flame so long that the bottom of the balloon turned as black as
the lungs of a 4-pack-a-day smoker. Success…just like the video! Scientifically, I could not explain it, but
the kids didn’t care…and neither did I.
When we got our mess
cleaned up, I drove them back home to Mom and Dad. It was music to my ears to
hear Abbey “explain” our little experiments. Kyle and Shaundra listened and asked all kinds of questions. Abbey was in her glory telling all the details.
Later, I thought to myself...maybe, someday, Abbey and Andy will do these wonderments with their own kids. After all, how do
traditions get started anyway?
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