My wife took my kids to the hobby store recently. The kids brought their own money and made their own purchases. (NOTE: They are both loaded. I don't know where all the money came from, but it can be helpful in those times when my wife and are desperate for cash.)
First item: An origami kit. It has an instruction book and paper, and with it one could make a dozen different endangered animals, if one could somehow decipher the instructions, something neither child is capable of.
So I've been attempting a lot of origami lately. We almost made a zebra, except it only has one hind leg. That's easy to explain though, as zebras and lions are known to have special encounters that could easily explain the absence of such an important appendage. I consider the zebra a success.
We also have a koala head and a panda head, but neither animal has a body, and I don't think they ever will. The pictures in the instruction book make IKEA furniture assembly look simple and intuitive.
My older son also purchased an Erector Set. It also has an instruction book with amazingly complex drawings, but it is a book someone with a degree in mechanical engineering could easily use as reference. Sadly, I am lacking in such a degree, but in an effort to reduce the volume of whining in the house, I have been making due. And swearing under my breath.
My in-laws were here this past weekend, and I spent the whole time waiting for my mother-in-law to mispronounce the toy as an "Erection Set" because I am immature and think that would be really funny.
Which reminds me of the time our dog had bladder stones. Nearly 60 of them, and they had gone from the bladder into his urethra, where they all got stuck. During the examination the vet reached back between my dog's legs and felt the stones. He encouraged me to do the same, not realizing that I was in no way mature enough to engage in a general conversation about my dog's urethra, let alone actually touch the underside of my dog's vacant scrotum. (NOTE: I have not shaken hands with the vet since then.)
I struggle with this inability to take important things seriously. It's an ongoing battle that I am sure is pointless, as I have no intention of ever winning it.
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