Photo by Kristine Larsen
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How to Be the Greatest Grandparent Ever
By Russell Wild and Jean-Noel Bassior
Yeah, we mean you! The planet's leading experts spill their secrets—and you soak up the glory.
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Drive a Bumper Car
Mario Andretti, world champion racecar driver
There's more nuance in bumper car driving than you'd think, says Andretti. "The thing you want to avoid most is exactly what you want to avoid in any car—a head-on crash," he adds. "In such collisions there's a tendency to find your teeth on the wheel."
Go with the flow
To avoid the head-on crash, never drive against traffic.
Step on it
Drive faster. It makes you a harder target.
Stay wide
Drive near the outside of the ring. You're less likely to get boxed in.
Find the fool
Check out the other drivers. Look for the confused face, the driver looking all over the place and not knowing what to do. That's the one you nail.
Build a Bathtub Boat
Joe Farcus, chief ship designer, Carnival Cruise Lines
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| Photo by Renée Comet |
"Today, I design 100,000-ton ships, but when I was six or seven years old I'd build these little 1-ounce boats out of walnut shells. I got the idea after seeing some pirate movie with Maureen O'Hara and Errol Flynn," says Farcus.
Your grandkids will be impressed as heck to see what you can make from a walnut shell (that's your hull), a toothpick (your mast), used chewing gum (to attach the mast to the hull), and colored paper (for the sail). If you want to float the boat in the bathtub, you'll also need a little weight on the bottom to serve as a keel. "The easiest thing to do is simply to insert a tiny lead fishing weight under the chewing gum. Look closely and you may see Maureen O'Hara and Errol Flynn!" says Farcus.
Train Your Kitty
Sara, The Tiger Whisperer, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus
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| Photo by Danny Turner |
The secret to training a cat is to watch it at play, then reward it for what it does naturally, says Sara, who charms seven huge Bengal tigers in her circus act. To teach your kitty to sit up, dangle a toy in front of it. Then when it naturally sits up on its hind legs, say, "Sit up!" When it drops back down, give it a treat—meat or fish works best. Soon your cat will associate the command and the treat with the action, says Sara. Next, show kitty how to jump through a hoop:
Start close
Move two sofas one foot apart. When your cat climbs up on sofa number one, stand by the second sofa, holding a food treat, and coax kitty to jump. Utter a command such as "Jump! C'mon, jump!" When it does, give it the treat. Let your cat get comfortable with the 1-foot jump over four to five days.
Open wide
Move the sofas two feet apart. Increase the distance every few days until the cat is jumping six or seven feet.
Stick to it
Before moving on to the hoop, get your kitty to jump over a stick as it sails through the air.
Hoop it up
Get a large hoop and hold it between the two sofas. If kitty seems confused, put it on a leash and coax it to jump through the hoop while you're holding the treat in your other hand.
"Patience is the key to success," says Sara.
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