Bubble Gum - it can't be done by a four year old

The look on Alice's face on first discovering she could blow a bubble.

I told Alice that she could not blow a bubble until she was at least five years old.

I really told her this so that she wouldn't be so disappointment when she couldn't do it.

Her dad had given her all of the necessary technique.

Chew the wad until it is soft enough.

Flatten the gum out with your tongue.

Alice's First Bubble
... gently, gently, softly blowing ...

Make the gum even on the roof of your mouth.

 Then capture it between your teeth.

Softly blow.

She practised and practised and then this morning, Eureka!

The beginnings of her first bubble.

No one was more pleased than she.

The Bubble Gum Contest Chart

This lead to the possibility of us having a bubble gum contest:  one point for a bubble.

Two points for a bubble that cracks when it pops.

Three points if it is a double bubble and cracks.

We practised for a long time as our Bubble Gum Contest Chart Shows.

We learned to count off our points in groups of fives.

Everyone had to mark down their own points, for the bubbles were coming fast and furious.

The smooth look to my skin is not botox.
It is the overlay of a popped bubble.

The last part of "technique" involves getting gum off of my face when the gum is super soft and the bubble sticks to my skin.

I had forgotten how nasty that can be.

Arta

Rules of Bubble Gum

"And look at this one, Grandmother."

At the house next door a little girl refused to spit her Double Bubble gum out when her dad asked to brush her teeth.

When the gum finally came out of her mouth, and her teeth were brushed, she screamed for one hour.

Then her dad banned bubble gum from the house.

Banned it forever.

Betty who is two is trying to blow a bubble with her gum.
Mostly her pieces are chewed and swallowed.
She can make one pud of gum last 4 bites.
I only allow her two pieces, no matter how much she swallows.

In that house, forever may mean a few hours, a few days, a few weeks....

Right now it means more than two days, so all bubble gum has to be chewed at Grandmother's house and then thrown in her garbage.

Or if Grandmother is over at the house next door, she can supervise the bubble gum that is being chewed there.

Forever is a long time.

Arta