Are you ready to have children?

How long will you last with a fish finger in the couch?!

Mess Test

Smear peanut butter on the sofa and curtains. Place a fish finger behind the couch and leave it there all summer.

Toy Test:

Obtain a 55-gallon box of LEGOs (or you may substitute carpet tacks). Have a friend spread them all over the house. Put on a blindfold. Try to walk to the bathroom or kitchen. Do not scream because this would wake a child at night.

Shopping Test

Borrow one or 2 small animals (goats are best) and take them with you as you shop. Always keep them in sight and pay for anything they eat or damage.

Dressing Test

Obtain one large, unhappy, live octopus. Stuff into a small net bag making sure that all the arms stay inside.

Feeding Test

Obtain a large plastic milk jug. Fill halfway with water. Suspend from the ceiling with a cord. Start the jug swinging. Try to insert spoonfuls of soggy cereal into the mouth of the jug, while pretending to be an airplane. Now dump the contents of the jug on the floor.

Night Test

Prepare by obtaining a small cloth bag and fill it with 8-12 pounds of sand. Soak it thoroughly in water. At 3:00 p.m. begin to waltz and hum with the bag until 9:00 p.m. Lay down your bag and set your alarm for 10:00 p.m. Get up, pick up your bag, and sing every song you have ever heard. Make up about a dozen more and sing these too until 4:00 a. m. Set alarm for 5:00 a.m. Get up and make breakfast. Keep this up for 5 years. Look cheerful.

Ingenuity Test

Take an egg carton. Using a pair of scissors and pot of paint, turn it into an alligator. Now take a toilet paper tube and turn it into an attractive Christmas candle. Use only scotch tape and a piece of foil. Last, take a milk carton, a ping-pong ball, and an empty box of Cocoa Puffs. Make an exact replica of the Eiffel Tower.

Car Test

Forget the BMW and buy an estate car. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment. Leave it there. Get a penny. Stick it into the cassette player. Take a family size package of chocolate chip cookies. Mash them into the back seat. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car. There, perfect.

Physical Test (Women)

Obtain a large beanbag and attach it to the front of your clothes. Leave it there for 9 months.

Financial Test

Go to the nearest baby shop. Set your wallet on the counter. Ask the assistant to help herself. Now proceed to the nearest food store. Go to the head office and arrange for your pay to be directly deposited to the store. Purchase a newspaper. Go home and read it quietly for the last time.

Intimate Relations Test

Prepare to have intimate relations with your partner. Arrange for a tape recorder to suddenly cry out, "Mummy/Daddy! I'm thirsty/I need to go to the potty!" or to simply cry (ear-splittingly!). Rig something up to knock on your bedroom door while the tape recorder says, "Mommy/Daddy, I had a bad dream. Can I sleep in your bed?"

Final Assignment

Find a couple who already have a small child. Lecture them on how they can improve their discipline, patience, tolerance, toilet training and child's table manners. Suggest many ways they can improve. Emphasise to them that they should never allow their children to run wild. Enjoy this experience. It will be the last time you will have all the answers.

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