Upside Down You Turn Me

Sis and Bud saw a troupe of Chinese acrobats performing the most amazing tricks this weekend: body contortions, balancing acts on chairs and bicycles, spinning plates, flipping bowls on their head while pedaling unicycles, something we can only call "the yo-yo," tumbling (which is such a simple word for such amazing maneuvers!), lion dancing, among other things.

So of course that came home and wanted to do the exact same things.

Despite the fact that the performance was prefaced with an announcement "not to try this at home," a warning reiterated by Mama several times, along with "they've practiced for years."

Suffice it to say, those warnings didn't stick. The kids have been trying to replicate the easiest-looking of the tricks, only to find that it's really hard to catch a bowl on your head, even when you use your hand and not your foot to toss it there, or that you can't spin one plate on a stick much less three in each hand while flipping yourself back and forth.

They were a little more successful outside, on the rope ladder and monkey rings and the swings. Thank goodness we mulched that playset this summer! Not that I think 2 inches of bark will keep it from hurting when they fall on their heads. But that's the theory.

I did enjoy both their own acrobatic performance for us on Sunday and also watching the video of the troupe with them, particularly because I hadn't gone with them. Really amazing stuff, that, though I kept holding my breath lest they make a painful mistake and imagining how much I would hurt myself if I tried the same thing!

And I managed to teach the kids how to do a headstand, memories of my own thumping against the living room wall of my childhood home suddenly fresh in my mind. Note: couch pillows help.

But at least you can try that at home.