Monday, February 3, 2014

Tackling the Tangled Slinky





3.5 Years:
“Mama, you have advanced fine motor skills. Could you please untwist this Slinky?”

There are some pains of parenthood that you’re never warned about. No one tells you how much it hurts when you step on a Lego or a Rainbow Loom late at night. No one tells you just how disgusting it is when your child vomits onto your face. No one can prepare you for the tedium of helping with elementary-school homework. And no one—absolutely no one—explains the futility of attempting to untangle a Slinky.

When she was around three and a half, my daughter went through a phase in which she was absolutely fascinated by my ability to paint fingernails, open cans, cut with scissors, and write clearly. When she asked why she couldn’t do those things, I explained that adults have more advanced fine motor skills, so it’s easier for them to do things with their fingers.

Unfortunately, advanced fine motor skills or not, there isn’t a person in the world who is capable of untangling a Slinky without a lot of hand-cramping and cursing, usually ending with a twisted knot that gets thrown into the trash.

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