pinata malfunction

Pinatas have been around for a while... we'll say what 500 years?? (yes I Googled it).

Despite this LONG history- they do not seem to work right- ever.

I, in a rare moment of forethought, decided to get the kind of pinata that the kids pull strings from the bottom and in theory- one of the strings releases the contents of the pinata all over the floor.

It did not seem like a good idea to have a bunch of kids swinging a stick in the house with a lot of people over.  It seemed to be inviting catastrophe.

Well- it didn't work.  One little girl decided that she would cut out the middle man and pull a handful of strings, she is all about efficiency. NOTHING happened.  We adults waited on baited breath for the final ribbons to be pulled, expecting at any moment a payload of treats to come crashing down.  We were disappointed- the last ribbon was pulled and nothing happened.

So I had to tear open the pinata and shake the contents on the crowd of children who, were not that much shorter than I am-- in fact one of them... a 12 year old is taller than am.

There are a couple of problems with the candy pouring into a heap of kids- somehow at least one child gets hurt by the candy falling on him or her-- and--- the smallest kid can sometimes stampeded by excited older kids.