When we got home, Jonathan nipped off to the kitchen and was very quiet. Honestly, we should know better by now. But I was busy playing Guitar Hero III. At any rate, eventually we heard him say 'oops'. Very quietly.
He had been given a science kit called 'Blood, Bones and Body Bits' for Christmas. Now. This is not at all a chemistry set. But it did have some stuff you could mix up to make fake blood, and then squeeze through a plastic heart to demonstrate the way in which blood circulates. Turns out it circulates all around the kitchen table and floor, and certainly all over J's brand new white morris dancing type shirt. He looked quite a lot like Midshipman Lughole after he was shot, in fact; the wound was about as convincing and limiting. And with Grandma due to turn up within an hour or two. After a little emergency cleaning, our son came back contrite. "I've decided", he explained, "never to do another experiment that comes with a 'Horrible Mess Warning' without asking you first." Good plan, that.
