Yo-Yos Are No-No’s!

My son's yo-yo mess

As a child I collected all sorts of yo-yos.  I had big ones, small ones, and various sizes in between.  There were plastic ones, wooden ones, and even a couple metal ones.  They were tons of different colors, with some that were tied dyed and others that could glow in the dark.  The jewel of my collection was a giant orange yo-yo that had lights and sound effects that would go off with motion.  Oh, how I was proud of my yo-yo collection!

When I was a little girl my parents taught me how to yo-yo and to do various tricks (i.e., walk the dog and around the world).  I could spend hours practicing with my yo-yo.  The tricks were so exciting, while the basic down and up movement was so relaxing.  In fact, I did a lot of great thinking and imagining as I watched my yo-yos fly.

Long ago, my childhood collection disappeared.  But recently, I bought a few new yo-yos.  I wanted to show my own kids the wondrous world of yo-yoing and maybe teach them an old trick or two.  Immediately, my son (6) and daughter (almost 5) were mesmerized and eager to learn.  They watched in awe as my yo-yo zipped up and down and then to and fro.  They even laughed with me as I tried to remember the tricks from my childhood.

However, as soon as I handed them their shiny new yo-yos, disaster erupted!  On the first try, my daughter whipped herself in the back of the head.  She was more than frustrated that her yo-yo simply fell limp and wouldn’t come back up the string.  And while I was helping to wind my daughter’s yo-yo back up, my son managed to ruin his yo-yo.  He got his brand new yo-yo so entangled with his paratrooper and a couple other toys that we still have not been able to unknot it!

That afternoon did not go as planned.  In fact, I’m still shaking my head in disbelief at how quickly it went sour!  How did my plan go so wrong?  Am I that bad of a yo-yo teacher or are my kids just not coordinated enough yet?  Either way, in the words of my daughter, “yo-yos are no-no’s” for those two--at least until I can come up with a better plan!