It seemed like a good idea. I wanted my great nephew, Noah, to have an elephant for Christmas. He is such a little doll and he’s worked hard at perfecting his elephant sounds and he raises his chubby little arm up for a trunk. An elephant that moves and/or makes sounds would be perfect for him!
Off I went to WalMart to find one!
Fisher-Price came to the rescue with “Shake ‘n Go Elephant”. I wasn’t thrilled with the elephant sound, but close enough. I knew Noah would love the fact that it makes ANY noise and it moves. After each little trumpet squeal the wheels spin and it takes off. What fun!
I was pleased that the batteries were pre-installed. However, I was a little concerned that I couldn’t find an off switch. I suspected that a noisy elephant might pose a problem for the post office.
Then I figured it would be okay as long as the elephant was packed well and no one shook the box very much. I wrapped it in bubble wrap and then wrapping paper and then cushioned the inside of the packing box with more paper. It seemed okay, but just to be safe I wrote on the box, “This box contains a child’s toy that makes noise when shaken.” Good thinking. Patted myself on the back for that one!
Off to school yesterday morning. The elephant trumpeted his little song as I carried the box to the truck. Well, okay, I did have it upside down. Put it on the seat and it stopped, but I could still hear the wheels spinning for about 30 seconds.
Drove down the driveway and every time I hit a bump in the gravel…you guessed it…trumpeting and wheels spinning. Told myself it would stop on the highway and that most postal workers drive on the highway, not bumpy gravel driveways. Right?
That crazy elephant trumpeted all fifteen miles to school! I don’t think it shut up more than five minutes until I parked in the parking lot.
Well, I sat there in the truck for a minute and imagined a scenario at some far off post office in Utah where the authorities had the box surrounded by homeland security officers. Even after they tore it open and verified that it was indeed just a child’s toy they would probably still track me down at school and arrest me just for wasting their time! I decided to take the thing home and take out the batteries.
After school I had to get some more paper and packing tape at WalMart so I stopped by the toy department and looked at the elephant’s brother on the shelf. Gave it a little shake and the sound wasn’t any better. Couldn’t find an off switch. No clue on the box.
Went home and unwrapped the box. Unwrapped the elephant. Took off the bubble wrap. The whole time the silly thing is trumpeting and spinning. Took it out of its packaging. Low and behold—the OFF switch!!--on the bottom, just out of reach because the elephant was tied so closely and tightly to its packaging. If I had known where it was I could have turned it off with pencil. Anyway, Hallelujah, I made it stop trumpeting and spinning!
I didn’t even bother to wrap him again. I just threw a little bubble wrap around him and put him back in the packing box. Off to Utah with you, naughty elephant!
So…Noah. You are getting an elephant for Christmas. Don’t be fooled by how quiet he is when you take him out of the box. Once you turn that switch on, your mom may be saying bad things about your Aunt Mary. I just wanted you to have an elephant for Christmas. It seemed like a good idea.
Ahh, the joys of modern toys. We call them "possessed." Tyler had one as a toddler. For no apparent reason, it would just start laughing. I'd be in the kitchen and hear through the monitor a faint laughing sound. Used to freak us out! We'd keep it buried in the closet under pillows when he didn't want to play with it.
Noah will LOVE the toy. And I'm going to love having that story to go with it. Fantastic!
Posted by: Megan | December 08, 2009 at 09:12 AM