sheep dispenser

There is little that compares to witnessing a three year old having a complete meltdown as evidence that not becoming a parent was a wise choice. Luckily for everyone within earshot, I didn't pretend or imagine that there was anything I might do. Knowing my limits allowed me to almost completely detach from the screaming, hyperventilating, and throwing. Mother Kathy managed very well and brought the storm to a successful calm and with greater patience than I could ever muster. I supposed decades teaching middle school science is good preparation.

This same middle schoolteacher, ex-clown disposition toward the world also explains why she carries in her car a toy sheep that dispense jelly beans. While I sometimes wish I could inflict such off-color projects upon children, at least in this situation I was an admirer and not an instigator. On the other hand, perhaps such tendencies on my part explain why few nieces and nephews ever visit and those that do so make trek only rarely.

Picture 1 shows the key objects: (A) an enthused child, (B) a sheep dispenser (head tilted to reveal the cavity) and (C) a supply of Jelly Bellies. Only a few people in this world know that the confection is this superhero's Kryptonite. An open container is just a few hours from being an empty one. Fortuitously, I also am forgetful and hid this container in my own office after receiving it for Christmas. So out it comes and now Molly and I are debating which beans are the right color. She gets the joke because white ones and red ones are wrong. For you should know that the sheep will dispense beans from an opening just below its tail. Browns and blacks would be ideal -- and the little squirt knows it!

Very little training was required to prompt Molly to begin dispensing beans. Pressing down on the sheep's bag forced the legs into the body, the tail to lift, and the bean to pop out. Bean after multi-colored bean. And since it was a gift to me, there was no struggle about whether it would remain in Connecticut. I am somewhat disturbed to discover that there are many varieties of such toys available for sale. But I am grateful for an unusual stocking stuffer idea for my distant nieces and nephews.