Notes from the Grade 4 Invention Convention

We here at the Picket Fence Post household thought we'd be able to breathe easier when the fourth grade Invention Convention concluded (although the hockey season is still ongoing, but that's another matter). And at first we did.

The Youngest Boy did well this afternoon explaining to the parents who attended the Invention Convention how his creation, the "Dog-O-Feeder," works: You train your dog (in this case our dog Max) to press on the wooden lever, which will lift the clear plastic square in front of the hole in the plastic container filled with food allowing the dry kibble to tumble out.

That Dog-O-Feeder represents a whole lot of sweat and a mess o'drama, mostly experienced by The Spouse, whom The Youngest Boy preferred to help him with the school project.

But alas, just when I thought all was well with the world and the stress levels were dropping, the Dog-O-Feeder broke: When The Youngest Boy took his invention out of the car seconds after we got home, the paper bag into which I'd placed it, which was wet from the rain, broke and part of the plastic on the invention snapped off. More drama.

Feeling guilty that the bag broke, I tried to immediately smooth things over by cravenly passing the buck and promising that The Spouse would repair it when he gets home from work, even though I'm sure he thought he was all done with using his power tools until the next school project.