- They may still be on the shelf at Wal-Mart. If this is the case, you will want to take them down from the shelf and place them in your cart. You will balk at paying good money for a tray of plastic tubes. Get over it. They’re worth it.
- They may be scattered all over the floor around your table (and I do mean scattered). Sweep ‘em up and stop complaining. Do you not see how your daughter’s absorbed with that pony? Or how your son is gingerly assembling a concentric pattern on his square? Look at the clock. They’ve been at it for over an hour and you’ve gotten the dessert made.
- They may be ready and waiting for the heat of Momma’s iron. In this case, the do-it-now principle applies. (See above reference to sweeping.) Also, know that you will need the steady hand of a surgeon to transfer the pre-ironed masterpieces from the table to the ironing board. Inevitably you will spill a few purple tubes off of the template as you are setting it down to be ironed. You will then be amazed by your patience as you stand there and delicately return Every Last Little Cylinder to its former home.
- Finally, and there is no dainty way to put this, they may be stuck inside your preschooler’s nostril. You will know this by the way that she has abandoned her Perler bead bear and has tears of fear squirting out of her eyes. “I was just scratching my nose and it was on my finger,” she is sobbing. Stay calm. Fetch the tweezers. And give your daughter her little bead back. (Yes, you should rinse it first.)
“My Perler Bead Pony” by Maria, age 6
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