Chewing gum won't fix a flat tire, just so you know.
As I got out of the minivan I could hear a “ssssssssss” coming from the rear. I hoped it was one of the bike tires on the rack but it sounded too big. I yelled to my husband on the other side of the car, “You’re not going to like this.”
He quickly came around and poked his finger all over the van tire to find a leak. A small hole actually. I said I was sorry. More on that in a minute.
Dennis - Great
Haden (sad) - I don’t have any gum.
Me (upbeat) - Oh, I think I have some gum! You want me to get it?
Dennis (looking at us like we could not possibly be serious) - No-uh
It was quickly decided that since he had to take the bikes off the rack to get to the spare Haden and I would ride to the two nearby caches while he changed the tire. Timing was perfect and we were all ready to get back in the van at the same moment.
An hour down the road I begin laughing. Laughing so hard I couldn’t answer when my husband asked if I’d like to share with the rest of them what was so funny. Finally, between laughs, I managed to get out, “I. . . I can’t believe. . . that . . . we wanted gum.” He then shared the laughter and said he wondered what we were thinking. About that time Haden filled him in on the time I put gum on a hole in our Pathfinder’s tire.
Again, with the look, Dennis - You didn’t???
Me - I did.
Dennis - What were you thinking?
Me - Um, that maybe I could make it to a tire place.
Haden - It didn't work. It blew bubbles.
Dennis - It did?
Haden - It was cool!
Me, nodding, busted into laughter once again, this time joined by my family.
Several hours later, Khristiaan was home from work and had been filled in about the tire experience when he said, “Mom put gum on a hole in the tire once.” He repeated the whole story as Haden had and we all had a good laugh at my expense once again. Khris assures me that anyone could ask any of my kids and they would all repeat it the same way. It doesn’t matter that this happened 10 years ago, when they were 6, 8, 10 and 12 years old, they never forget.
So just so no one else has to experience their children laughing at them I thought I would share with the blogosphere that chewing gum will not fix a hole in a tire. Ever. It will however, blow bubbles and give your family something to laugh at you for.
Oh, I almost forgot, the reason I was sorry about our tire, besides the fact that I’m sorry for everything is that I think it was my fault. Shortly before the “sssssssss” my husband had pulled to the side of the road so I could get this photo. I think he ran over something in the grassy shoulder.
I just wanted to show you our “marshmallows”. These are the first ones of the year I’ve seen. You won’t find these down south. Heck you won’t find them in the southern part of our state, but way up here, this is how the hay is protected from the snows. We like to call them marshmallows, wouldn’t they be fun to eat if they really were?
What a terrific post and what a great (and funny) memory for your kids to
share! It's always fun to laugh at the mom, especially when she is
laughing, too! Thanks.
I was laughing pretty hard at your cute story!
I love those ginomous marshmallows!
hee hee - it makes me want to put gum on a leaking tire just to see it
bubble.
They really look like marshmallows! so cool!
That's a cute story. Maybe duct tape would work better on the tire next
time. :) I forgot about the giant marshmellows up North - we always saw a
ton in Indiana.
Those marshmellows are cool. Princess H would definetly want to eat them.
You are too funny ...
I've always wondered if that would work. Thanks for clearing that up! :)
Sandy - glad I could cause a chuckle or two
Howdy. Popped by from the WW festival, and boy am I glad I did. See, I pull
over more often than I care to admit to take pictures, too. My wife's often
not pleased with this, but she usually comes around when I bring back a
really great photo.
Lisa! What a funny story or stories!! And we have white marshmallows like
that in Northern NY also. I never thought to try fixing my flat tire with
gum, but hey it was worth a try....not sure that the duct tape would work
either though. Those pictures you took are phenomenal!!! That camera
takes the BEST pics!!
I once fixed my windshield with gum! The stripping was coming off and I
was hours from home. It's still there (gum and all) 5 months later!
That's very neat! I've never seen covered hay bales. Hmm.
Carmi, Welcome, I hope to see more of you. Good to "meet" someone else who
goes through what I do for the sake of a photo. :)
That is such a funny story, I was just giggling as I sat here, and I could
see my kids doing the same thing. Hey, I bet some of your McIvor things
work. I am still giggling, the way you told the story, so funny. We have
marshmallows up here too. We have some brown ones (toasted), some black
ones (burnt) and some green ones (mint). When we see them in the
mountains, we call "mountain marshmallows", but then again, we call
"mountain sheep", "mountain goats", "mountain cows"; always something to
see in the mountains. But I digress. Great post.
hey, i just thought i'd let you know that those marshmallows are silage
bales, and they are wrapped to keep oxygen from getting to the green
material inside.. They undergo fermentation and it makes the grass sweet
for the cows to eat. THese bales exist everywhere.. even in south Ga ..