Physics in the home

When my little Lollygagger was in need of a bath, her daddy was ever so sweet and volunteered to handle the back breaking task. While she played with her bath toys, he called his Auntie in San Francisco and became engaged in a conversation taking his attention away from the little lollygagger who happens to be a curious child.

Meanwhile, I'm cleaning up the dinner disaster that left me with a nasty case of heartburn, when suddenly, I hear the steady drip – drip – drip of water coming from the guest bathroom. Foolishly, I ignore the first three minutes of this steady dripping, my mind unable to shift from heartburn to flooding. By the time my mind clicks into gear, I realize this sound is not in the realm of normal. I find the ceiling in the bathroom is soaking wet and sagging.

My shock prevents me from an immediate reaction. When the quarter drops and I grasp the full scope of what I'm looking at, I quickly inform the lollygaggers’ daddy in a not-so-subtle shriek, who cuts his phone conversation short to conduct an investigation.

Apparently, my little lollygagger was told not to climb out of the tub by herself, which she translated into the idea that she was not allowed to reach for, nor ask for, a toy she wanted across the room.

Her solution? Bail out all the tub water to elevate the little toy, then, make it float to her by swirling the water, thereby creating a current.

Other than destroying the floor upstairs, and the ceiling below, it was an excellent example of working Physics into the day-to-day activities of home life. In addition to a good physics lesson, which I can confidently say was working, there were many other lessons learned that night:

1) When your Lollygagger is quiet, she’s up to no good. Find out what it is before your bathroom gets flooded.

2) Never assume your Lollygagger knows better.

3) Never be distracted by a good phone conversation when you should be watching your Lollygagger.

4) Never be too tired to pay attention to abnormal dripping sounds in your house.

5) Never doubt your little Lollygagger can’t solve a complicated physics problem.

I wonder what my life would be like if I didn’t have my sweet little Lollygagger to keep me on my toes? Boring, I think.

Yes, life is good.