The Experimenter

I have a child who likes to experiment with things. She's been this way since she was born, I think. How does this work? Will it still work if I take it apart? Will it still work if I smash it into pieces? Will it work if I glue it back together?

My experimenter is Violet. Her current favorite thing to do is freeze things. This phase has lasted almost two years now. (In fact she took 3rd place in the school science fair--against middle schoolers-- with her "Gadget Freeze" project, where she froze different items and then tested them to see if they still worked afterwards...) I never know what I will find in the freezer when I open it. So many surprises are encased in ice for my enjoyment: frozen matches, frozen applesauce (she says don't try this-- it's gross), frozen toothpicks, frozen toys, frozen... something...

I remember one day when she was about 5, and we were unloading groceries from the car. I gave her the package of two Costco-sized mustard bottles, and she went in. A couple minutes later, the older girls yell, "Mom! Come quick!" I enter the house to find mustard splattered all over the landing and wall at the bottom of the stairs. Older sisters informed me that they saw her throwing the mustard.

Me: "Honey, why did you throw the mustard down the stairs?"
Violet: "I wanted to see what would happen."
Me: "Well, mustard explodes everywhere when you throw it down the stairs."
Violet: "The first one didn't!"

This morning, I drove to work with little stick magnets stuck to the outside of the car. I have the best hood ornaments EVER.