Posted 5-23-19
Mom was and probably somehow still is an innovator. Maybe not a Tesla or Edison-grade inventor, but she knew how to stretch a buck long before life hacks filled the airwaves. I Googled “MomGyver” and the term has its own hashtag and a large following of similar ladies. MacGuyver was to tin foil and gum what mom was to toys and other things.
I could name dozens of “innovations” mom dreamed up to save a buck growing up, but toys were a common thread. My brother and I used to play with a home-grown device that our family called a “schmurltz”. A schmutltz was a throwing game that involves two softballs, a long tube sock and a bloody face. It was a yard hazard before Yard Darts were cool…
- First, run one softball inside to the bottom of the sock and tie above it to keep it there.
- Next, tie a knot about 2/3 of the way up, and insert the second softball.
- Lastly, tie a knot to cap the toy off at the end. Now, if you can visualize the shape of this toy, it kind of looks like a old fashioned dumbbell, which is exactly what we were for playing with this face-smashing thing.
To play, simply throw it back and forth and try to be the first to catch it without a bloody mouth. Sling it end over end for maximum damage. The one ball version of this game was a tad gentler, but only by a degree.
Mom made everything from the stuff she had, whether it be food or birdhouses or rock gardens. She was a true innovator….and a great mom in the process. 🙂
I, attempting to follow her lead, “solved” my leaking window problem in the old Cavalier this week by slitting a water noodle and sliding it over the gap in the window as shown below. Mom would certainly approve. 🙂 I will NOT add a car payment to my budget. I will run this thing until it explodes. Thanks, mom.
Mom was such a creative person, I hate what this stinkin’ disease did to her.
#EndALZ
I had to chuckle at the visual of those softballs in a sock. LOL Ah me… you know there’s an actual game out now that has rubber balls tied to ropes and you toss them towards a tube stand that has horizontal tubes spaced about a foot apart vertically. (Imagine an H with a tube at the top and the bottom. You sling the ball at the ‘zone’ and if the ball goes through the space and wraps around the pipe, you have a score. The higher the wrap-up, the higher the score–or so I remember.) I think your method would elicit way more excitement!! (and perhaps more damage?)
That sounds a tad more safe than Schmurltz. 🙂