Many folks bloviating what Christmas is all about today. Some say it's all about religion, some that it's about family and loved ones, and most yammering about giving to others. That's all well and good, and certainly a big part of the reason of the season...but....c'mon....Christmas is about kids...specifically kids getting great toys for no other reason than being a kid. How sweet is that? I think back on those days with fond memories about all the great stuff I found under the tree on this magical day. The best, by far, was Creepy Crawlers.
Whoever invented this thing was a freaking genius. The ability to make bugs? Worms and spiders to scare your little sister with? My God....it's a boy's dream come true! I think that they have some super-safety version now days but the one I got had no such features, though it did have a disclaimer that it should only be used under the supervision of an adult...like that would ever happen; parents gave toys to their kids to get them out of their hair, not so they could supervise playtime. Creepy Crawlers was a toy that would make a present day soccer-mom faint and lawyers slobber all over themselves. It basically came with a hot plate. Not warm....HOT. This was for some serious cooking. You squirted some liquid stuff they called plastigoop into metal molds that went on the hot plate. You never really could tell when it had fried long enough other than by sticking your finger into the bubbling goo. If your finger came out coated with searing hot plastic...well...you needed to cook it a bit longer. If you just left your fingerprint in the mold and gave yourself a small blister, then it was done. You took the whole plate mold out with a pair of flimsy metal tongs and set it aside to cool off for a few minutes. It was pretty much impossible to play with this thing without burning the snot out of yourself.
But oh, what jewels you could have afterwards. Spiders, bugs, worms, frogs, mice, lizards....and the best....a bat.
Best Christmas present ever. Thanks Mom and Dad, er, I mean, Santa.
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