Edison had his light-bulb, the Wright brothers their aeroplane, and Ben Franklin his eponymous stove . . . but I don't think I will ever invent anything tangible . . . although I HAVE invented something incredibly useful, but it is a concept, not a thing: my invention is a dinner-time mind-trick called the "don't eat it" game; when you want your kids to eat something, you simply point at the item and say, very seriously, "Do NOT eat those green beans, especially not those three-- those are mine and I don't want you to eat them" and then you go back to eating your meal, and inevitably, the child will take the green beans you pointed at, steal a glance, make a devilish face, and then scarf them down . . . because it's fun to disobey; the funny thing is, now my kids know the trick, but they often still insist that I do it just because they enjoy it so much, and they eat so much faster if we play-- even though they know they are being manipulated; I know my creation isn't as valuable as the polio vaccine or the internal combustion engine, but it has caused me more happiness than either of those inventions . . . plus it's portable and very cheap to manufacture.
I almost commented on this entry. You really are tricky.
ReplyDeleteafter sentence boy and his family dined at my house a year or so ago, my children too became enamored of the game. i've franchised the concept in my home. i suppose i owe dave a rights fee of some sort. beer at tortuga's on me in july, dave.
ReplyDeleteI was going to post a meta-comment but Al already beat me to it
ReplyDeletei'm hoping the game goes viral, and then someday they trace its roots back my humble little blog.
ReplyDeletecan i get the title of your parenting book? because we tried this technique and he totally went for it complete with giggles.
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