The Magic Hat

As a Mom, I try to get my kids Christmas gifts that they will really love.  As I think back to Christmases I had growing up, I remember bikes, clothes, games, books and toys. But the most memorable gift I received was a magic hat set.  It was a plastic top hat and magic wand set, complete with instructions on how to do magic tricks.  I don't remember if it was a gift for me, my younger sister, or for both of us.  Santa sometimes brought us joint gifts since my sister and I were just 14 months apart.  On this particular Christmas I think we were around 7 or 8 years old. 

I opened the magic hat and started trying to figure out how it worked.  My Dad took one look at it, and decided that he knew how it worked, without reading the instructions, of course.  My Dad is by far the smartest man I know.  He could take a car apart and put it back together.  He could build anything out of wood: our kitchen table, toy airplanes and cars, bookcases.  He could answer any question that I could ask him. He knew something about any subject.  He tutored our babysitter in algebra.  Later when I was in high school he tutored me and all my friends in physics (Interesting trivia fact: our physics teacher was a finalist to ride on the space shuttle that blew up).  So when my Dad said to me on that Christmas morning that he wanted to try out the magic hat, I didn't doubt his ability for a second.

From this point on, there are varying versions of the story, depending on who tells it.  I remember it as Dad pouring a glass of water into the hat; Mom remembers it as Dad pouring a glass of milk into the hat.  Then Dad said to me, "Hey Lori, let me put this magic hat on your head."

"But Dad," I said, "the milk / water / unknown liquid will pour out on my head!"

"Don't worry," Dad said.  "Trust me!  It's a MAGIC hat."

So I walked over to him and waited for him to put the magic hat on my head.  In seconds I was drenched.  I looked at him in disbelief.  I couldn't believe that he would do that to me.  My Mother later told me that the look on my face was that of pure shock.

"Oops," Dad said.  "Sorry Lori." 

Moral of the story?  Read the directions. And don't be your Dad's magic hat assistant.

Happy Holidays everyone.  And please don't buy your children a magic hat!