The Egg Experiment

I am not a controlling mother. (Insert hysterical laughter from son and husband here.)

Let's just say it was hard for me not to comment as my teenage son worked on his eighth grade "egg experiment". Basically, you have to take a raw egg and drop it off the school roof onto concrete without it breaking. The kids are supposed to use their intelligence and imagination to protect the egg.

My son chose bubble wrap, a shoe box, and a parachute. Not bad, but that was after I refused to purchase balloons and rent a helium tank.

"Why don't you puts your egg in a ziplock bag in case it breaks?" I suggest before he begins. "That way it will save the $5 bubble wrap I just bought."

I couldn't help but add, "How are you going to make the parachute?" And before he could answer I said, "I think you should use a plastic trash bag."

"Mom, get out of here."

So, I watched as he cut the plastic trash bag crooked, made the most unsecured knots with twine, and held everything together with Scotch tape. Good thing he put the egg in a ziplock bag.

And to my controlled surprise, it worked. The egg in the bubble wrap in the shoebox floated to the ground with its parachute. And the egg did not break.

I knew he could do it.

-Lela