Playing in the bathtub

I love my kids. I really do. That said, I'm going to freak them out.

The Guru of Science himself, Mr. Steve Spangler, sent me a message on Twitter this afternoon while I was picking the kids up from school. It was sent to my BlackBerry as an instant message, so I was able to read it to them once they were all assembled in the minivan. Once the hysterical screaming subsided, we headed home. They made me promise never to scream hysterically anywhere near their school ever again, though.

Now that my kids think I'm famous, I can have more fun at their expense without them hating me for it. Today, I'm going to mess with their little heads at bathtime.

I call your attention to the storage tote on my kitchen floor, and the handsomely displayed bag of Water Polymer Crystals.















These seemingly innocent chunks of dry polymer gel are able to absorb 150-300 times their weight in water, and disappear when submerged in their fully reconstituted form. Invisible texture for a kid's bath water? Most definitely.

Now, carefully observe the crystals being added to the water and swished around for good measure. Neither of these actions are necessarily photo worthy, but everything is more interesting with pictures. For those of you visual creatures out there, the pictures will explain all these pretty words you're ignoring to get to the punchline faster.

Yes, there is writing on the back of my hand. My helpful ADHD/OCD issues make it virtually impossible to hang on to a rational thought, and I'm reduced to scrawling notes on the back of my hand to stay somewhat organized.

By bathtime tonight, the crystals will be squishy blobs of gel. When the younger boys hop in the tub, there will be screaming and lots of it.

More pictures to follow.