Tale 29 - Never trust a Power Ranger

 Before we go abroad, I always buy lots of items to take on holiday. The reason for this is that you have to be Elon Musk to afford some of the items when you get to the resort. 

So cheap armbands, blow up balls etc are bought at the Super Pound Store in Brighouse. If you need a random item, then this is the shop to visit. 

(NB Barry’s in King Cross comes a close second, but they mainly deal with food and items that are ‘just on the turn’ as my grandma would say! I’m sure wherever you live, and if like a bargain like me, you have similar shops!)

As well as cheap beach items, I also buy the Sassy Princess and the Prince of Tales some little plastic characters. 

Initially, these were used to throw in the pool or for hide and seek. For example, In Turkey, a few years back, I bought a job lot of ‘Hello Kitty’ characters which filled lots of time and allowed me hours on the sun bed!

Recently, the Sassy Princess and Prince of Tales have become more mercenary!

Now the plastic characters must be used for a game with a reward. I thus need to do days of preparation to make sure the reward and challenge is appropriate.

For our latest holiday, I again visited the Super Pound Store in Brighouse. I got great pound deals on a ‘Sofia the First’  inflatable ball and some ‘Kung Fu Panda’ armbands! 

I was just about to leave and pay when something caught my eye!

Five different coloured figures (obviously a rip off of ‘Power Rangers’) for £1.50. A little bit more expensive than i liked (50p to be exact! It’s the Super Pound Store. The clue is in the name!) But they would do!

I got home and took the characters out of the packet.

I now had to plan what impossible task I could give the Sassy Princess and the Prince of Tales, plus a suitable reward. My experiments included;

1 How far can I throw them?

Not that far, but they fall apart on impact. They can be rebuilt but they won’t take many flings! 

2 Do they float? 

Yes, so no games involving diving to the bottom of the pool will be possible.

 

3 Can they be hidden?

Yes, but my children now notorious cheats like their father so not a possibility.

4 Can they be balanced on each other?

I tried. They could just if they were flat the same way round on top each other. Other than that it was impossible! I spent hours trying to balance them on each other. No chance . I was ready!

THE POOLSIDE CHALLENGE 2022 RULES

1 All 5 ‘Power Ranger’ rejects must be balanced on the poolside table.

2 They can NOT be balanced flat on top of each other the same way round.

3 Only one ‘Power Ranger’ can be touching the table.

PRIZE For successful child €10

I could have made it €50! It was impossible! I had tried for hours and most I could do was three! The characters were too flimsy! It was a mugs task, but it would gave me hours sat on my arse by the pool!

First day of the holiday in Crete.

Sun bed at the ready.

The task was explained to the Prince of Tales and the Sassy Princess.

“Easy!” said the Prince of Tales. “It’s all about balance.”

I felt smug.The cocky Prince was about to meet his match. This would drive him round the twist. I would soon be his nemesis! As if the tiny man could meet this challenge. Fool!

I cackled like an arch enemy as I stretched on my beautiful sun bed, sipping my first Pina Colada of the day. Bliss! 

Two minutes later, the Prince shouted “Done it!”

“What!” I laughed, nearly spilling my cocktail in merriment.

I confidently walked to the table to find obviously find broken rules and failure.

I looked at the table. 

Five perfectly balanced ‘Power Rangers.’  I checked for cheats, glue, you name it. 

Nothing. 

The Prince of Tales had done in two minutes what I had failed to do in a week!

“You owe me €10” he said with scorn, like a hero beating the villain once again!

He was Sherlock Holmes, I was Moriarty. He was James Bond, I was Blofeld. He was Roadrunner, I was Wild Coyote. He was Sportacus , I was Robbie Rotten. He was the winner, I was the big fat loser.

The Sassy Princess walked across.

“My turn” she said.

I was confident here. The Sassy Princess not as patient as the Prince. She will be heavy handed! My money is safe here!

Two minutes later. “I’ve done it. You owe me €10 too!” she laughed.

I walked over. Again challenge met, no rules broken!

I was crestfallen. 

“How did you do it!” I asked 

“I’ve just watched the Prince of Tales do it you dufus! I just copied what he did. If you don’t know what to do copy someone. Life is that easy!”

If my daughter sits near enough to clever students in her GCSE exams, I sense she will do well.

So €20 Euro plus £1.50 for the figures for five minutes entertainment.

The Power Rangers figures spent the rest of the holiday in a bag in the hotel room. My arse hardly touched the sun bed, and I spent most of the fortnight throwing children in the pool or sea, getting splashed to death, playing pontoon or supervising iPad time in the room!

 I swallowed far more pool water than alcohol.

Have you ever bought something you thought would keep your children happy for hours, only to find the reverse was the case! A cunning plan that massively backfired? 

Let me know!