Corn Popper – Most Hated Toy Ever
If there was a couple I detested and they had a child, I would buy them the Corn Popper toy. After I got married, my wife put a stop to that. Of course my sister bought my kid one and my response to her was, “Do you hate me?” At that point, she revealed that she loved those toys which were the bane of my existence long before I had children. In retrospect that may have been one of the reasons she loved it.
There is something about the relentlessly loud popping noise of the Corn Popper which pushed all my buttons. It was like the popping sounds were vibrating against my spine to try and cripple me. It was always one of my fears going to baby showers for my kids or to my kids’ early birthdays, some person would buy my kid a Corn Popper toy and I was going to have to resist every impulse to avoid shrieking, “Why? Have you no decency? What did I do to you? I never want to speak to you again!” As I see Elly Patterson grimacing in pain at the sound of this abomination of children’s toys, I finally have a strip in For Better or For Worse with which I can totally relate. Of course, it’s a reprint.
There is something about the relentlessly loud popping noise of the Corn Popper which pushed all my buttons. It was like the popping sounds were vibrating against my spine to try and cripple me. It was always one of my fears going to baby showers for my kids or to my kids’ early birthdays, some person would buy my kid a Corn Popper toy and I was going to have to resist every impulse to avoid shrieking, “Why? Have you no decency? What did I do to you? I never want to speak to you again!” As I see Elly Patterson grimacing in pain at the sound of this abomination of children’s toys, I finally have a strip in For Better or For Worse with which I can totally relate. Of course, it’s a reprint.
posted by howard at 10:02 PM
9 Comments:
Ha ha! I like this one. When I was little, we had every single Fisher Price toy except for the Corn Popper. I would see it at preschool and at friends' houses, and I always wondered why we didn't have one at home. I found out years later that the reason was Mom's tenuous grip on sanity.
Oh, and Liz in the throwaway panel looks more like an eight year old in size.
howard,
I was trying to remember what they called the goofy things; it seems odd that Fisher Price would invent something guaranteed to antagonize parents. I didn't think they were in the revenge business. This reminds me of its inferior duplicate: Mira and the noise ball. Instead of John witlessly not noticing that his wife is being driven nuts by the toy, Mira does notice that the toy antagonizes Dee and the Kelpfroths but doesn't care.
We've got one of these. It got stowed in the attic pretty early on. ;)
qnjones,
I found out years later that the reason was Mom's tenuous grip on sanity.
I do not blame her one bit. My grip on sanity would have been tenuous too, if I had to listen to a Corn Popper all day long.
DreadedCandiru2,
I was trying to remember what they called the goofy things; it seems odd that Fisher Price would invent something guaranteed to antagonize parents.
Kids love the things. They are loud, require little effort to operate, and you have bright shiny balls bouncing all over the place. Of course those are the things I didn’t like about it.
This reminds me of its inferior duplicate: Mira and the noise ball.
My kids had one of those balls that move by themselves. They break easily.
aprilp_katje,
We've got one of these. It got stowed in the attic pretty early on. ;)
You are very wise.
LOL, am I the only adult that doesn't mind these things? But then again, when sounds start to grate on me, I just turn my hearing aids off. they make great earplugs! LOL
I never did have a Corn Popper when I had a kid, probably for the same reason all of you mentioned...but at the same time it makes me kind of sad that adults can't or won't let things go to have the same kind of fun that kids have anymore.
Destroyer of Worlds,
LOL, am I the only adult that doesn't mind these things?
No. As I stated in my main writing, my sister liked them as an adult and thought they were a great toy.
…it makes me kind of sad that adults can't or won't let things go to have the same kind of fun that kids have anymore.
Kid fun. Hum! There are some things kids do which I love. I love swinging on swingsets and rolling around on the carpet and reading kid books. There are other things kids love, which drive me to distraction. For example, given a choice between watching something on TV they have seen before vs. watching something they have never seen before; my kids will choose the thing they have seen before almost every time. My kids can watch a DVD over and over and over again, and still want to watch it more. That kind of fun I can do without, and I find something else to do.
Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you didn't like to have kid fun, just that too many adults don't. Sometimes it's nice to let your hair down and just play with your kids, something I haven't seen Elly and John do yet. I don't think I've ever seen John play trains with his kids yet. He just plays with them by himself or with another adult.
I got you on the watching the same DVD endless times. My brother and I did that when we were kids...alternating days with "Robin Hood" and "Sleeping Beauty" or "Cinderella". I'm sure my mom could replay the movies in her sleep. But on the plus side, she didn't have to buy us more movies! ;)
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