TeamCushman

I was talking to Logan while we were eating out the other night. Somehow the subject of stupids things came up. Here’s a list of some stupid things I did as a child. In no particular order …

* Setting my brother on fire. Yes, we were in scouts. Yes, we had a campfire in woods in the back of our house. Often we would build camp fires. So we had this brilliant idea of throwing one of the engines from our pinewood derby into the fire. We were curious, wanted to see what would happen. After the explosion, we learned first hand how to stop , drop and roll!

* Growing up in the 70’s Mom and Dad had this beautiful wood paneling in the house. I’m sure it was expensive. Around this time, my brother and I were involved in karate, kickboxing and martial arts weapons. These weapons include throwing stars … Throwing stars are sharp … very sharp! Combine that with the fact that we were not trained to use them. Bet you could imagine our parent’s face when they walked in and saw that we were testing the sharpness of the stars by throwing them against the wood paneling. I think the left side of my tukas still hurts from the paddle!

* Almost burning down the house. Yes, I learned the hard way that matches and plaid polyester bed spreads don’t mix. I was stupid enough to be playing with matches one night (see a theme here!) and ended up getting our bed spreads caught on fire. Luckily, my dad and mom were able to put it out. My brother was sleeping in my parent’s bed at the time and wouldn’t you know it, I blamed him. What an idiot.

* Sneaking out of the house. I did this on a number of occassions, but this time I took the ol 1980 Chevy Impala station wagon out with said parents knowing. What could go wrong? No harm. I was just meeting friends at a local park, hanging out, no problem right? Not until some jerk started firing a shotgun at the lights. Now we have a problem. Cops came, paddy wagons came. Next thing I know I’m at juvy hall on a school night. Now picture this … its 2 or 3 in the morning and the phone rings … “Mrs. Cushman, we have your son down at juvenille detention.” And yes, I did go to school the next day!

* I struggled with putting this one in, but in the end, it fits. It is said that a cat always lands on all fours. As a young kid, I tested this theory. However, rather than dropping them, I threw them in the air. We had a cat that used to have a lot of kittens, tons of them. One day, I … through the kittens in the air and they landed in the gutters of our house. I guess I found it amusing at the sight of four of the kitten’s legs spread out like a helicopter and landing in the gutter. I don’t remember how many there were, nor do I remember if the theory was correct. I just remember going on to find something else to do. I didn’t think it was funny seeing dad going up the ladder to get them down at the time. Disclaimer - no kittens were hurt during this episode! I think the right side of my tukas still hurts from the paddle.

The only reason I post these and talk about them - as I told my kids - is that there is no stupid idea that you can think of that I haven’t thought of before. So don’t try it! Don’t even think about it!!