Flingshots

One of the coolest presents I have ever received was given to me this Christmas by my friend Nik. It is a set of not one, not two, but SIX of these. I now have not just the monkey, but the frog, pig, cow, duck, and rooster.

I have a long history with these crazy toys. I first saw the monkeys when they were one of the rewards for participation in a CMS fundraiser. I kept threatening to confiscate them from my students...because I wanted one for myself. When I saw similar screaming monkeys for sale, I had to get several. One became the most coveted item at the 2004 family Christmas white elephant gift exchange. One monkey became my apartment's unofficial mascot. For some reason, which I can't remember now, my roommates and I named the monkey after an insufferable guy in our ward. We would fling him-the monkey, not the guy-across the room at the slightest provocation. Liz still holds the record for both distance and accuracy in monkey flingshot.

I'll never forget the night B met the flingshot monkey. It was New Year's Eve 2005. My roommates and I had decided to throw an impromptu party, and even though we'd only been on a couple of dates by then, I got brave and invited B. I was feeling silly and coquettish, and decided to get B's attention by flinging the monkey past his nose. Unfortunately, I have terrible aim with the things, and the screaming monkey smacked B right in the forehead! Boy did I feel stupid! B must not have been terribly offended, as he did ask me out again. (Not to mention the fact that he eventually married me. ;)

Unfortunately, Dave the monkey did not have as happy an end to his story. He made one flight too many, lost his voice and his stitching, and now sits quietly upon a shelf-a momento of a very fun time of my life.

Several years later I saw different kinds of animal flingshots for sale. I bought a rooster for Nik, who was leaving on a mission. She took the crazy crowing rooster with her, where it provided her with hours of entertainment-and her companions with hours of annoyance. *smirk*

I offer this lengthy history only to explain the elation I felt on opening the present from Nik, and finding a whole collection of flingshot animals! Someone else, however, was not elated. When I took out the monkey from Nik, I put it on my fingers, stretched it back and shot it screeching across the kitchen. J did this:
I was surprised. He usually doesn't react this way to noises of this type. Of course I scooped J up and comforted him, even though Nik and I couldn't help laughing a little bit. After a couple of days, J decided that the flingshot monkey was his favorite toy. He now carries it around with him and doesn't bat an eyelash when the monkey screeches. Here is J with his new friend: