The pandemic landed in America at the same moment that my in-law’s tenants gave up their lease.
After a couple of coworkers called in sick in mid-Februrary, I went into exile to minimize the chance of exposing the parents and children to this mysterious disease.
My wife bought an air mattress and hand pump, packed up some groceries, and I was a single man again.
The air mattress lasted about half a year. Kids ruined it by jumping up and down on it. However, the pump (which cost more than the air mattress) has paid off handsomely.
It turns out that when you buy a tool, you’ll find other uses for it.
They used it to blow air on each other’s faces. They played around with the detachable flexible tube that came with the pump, using it like a telescope. I used it to pump up the yoga ball.
And then we got a packet of balloons for my daughter’s birthday.
With the germophobia induced by the pandemic, we quickly realized this was the perfect way to inflate balloons.
Because it was so easy to inflate them, it was also no big deal to deflate them.
For a couple of weeks, the boy would watch me inflate a balloon and then release it, laughing as it bounced off the ceilings and walls, sputtering around the room.
This pump is about eighteen inches tall, a perfect height for children. So the boy has been able to operate it as well.
As implied by the “Double Quick” name, this thing pushes air on both the up and down strokes. It’s endlessly amusing to watch him strain with this thing.
As middle-class parents in a wealthy nation, we purchase many toys that get land with a thud. These wasted expenditures purchases are lottery tickets for amusing our children.
Then life intervenes and a worldwide pandemic forces you to buy the perfect toy that you didn’t even know was a toy.
We pulled out the pump after storing it for a few months. His face brightened up immediately, and he went right back to inflating and deflating balloons. Some toys are just real, and we’re lucky when we find them.