Every year he buys my kids a special gift. It is a special gift just from him and tends to be something they can share. This year he bought them moon sand, and that is why he is a very bad man.
For the uninitiated moon sand is…
Sounds great right?
Mouldable
Not Messy
Easy to use
What fun.
But alas we Beaufoixs seem to be a bit pants at the moonsand magic. I mean, we did manage this..
But it took a looooong, loooooooooong time.
And I mean a loooooooooooooong, looooooooooooooooooooong time.
It was bad.
We were fine with the bit where you warm it by squidging it in your hands,
and with the stuffing it into the moulds.
In fact that bit was weirdly satisfying.
And we managed the squeeze and the tap, but that’s often as far as we got. You see, in the hands of Miss E, Miss M and myself, the squeeze and tap tended to result in a splat and a crumble and a pile of what looks really just like ’sand’ sand, as opposed to moonsand.
But the worst and hardest part in all of this tom foolery is that I have an 8 year old who doesn’t like to give up. She is very hard on herself, and no matter how hard she tried, and believe me she tried, she could only create legless ponies.
The words “it’ll all end in tears” come to mind, probably because it did. Miss E was distraught.
Now I know part of her moment of extreme woe can be blamed on the excitement and the madness of the season, as well as lack of sleep and the fact she’s recovering from a cold. But, for Bob’s sake, moonsand is meant to be easy. You’re meant to be able to play with your creations, not handle them gingerly for fear of them crumbling away. And you’re definitely meant to at least be able to remove your moonsand characters from their moulds without them losing a limb and you losing the will to live.
So I say again, Father Christmas is a very bad man, because he chose this item that took me 20 minutes to tidy up after. It had absolutely nothing to do with me at all. Honest.
Moonsand
This little youtube clip sums it up perfectly.
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December 28th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Moon sand sucks. We got some a couple of years ago and never mastered it, it went mysteriously missing days later.
December 28th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
I think maybe if you moisten your hands first … oh who cares .. toss the crap or better yet send the manufacturer a copy of this post .. nasty Santa
December 28th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Next year you should just go back to cat shit, as long as you keep it moist it’s very pliable, and never crumbles.
December 28th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
I’m so glad to have seen this. I’ve seen moon sand advertised, and I’ve seen it in the stores, and I’ve often thought “ooh that looks good – I wonder if it’s as good as it looks”. Just before Christmas, I was but a moonjump away from buying some. Now I won’t bother. Thanks Jo. You’ve done me a favour.
December 28th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
Moon Sand is probably the worst thing we’ve bought Erin. Messy, expensive and not really fit for purpose. Very disappointing.
December 29th, 2008 at 12:44 am
I am laughing a bit……did you ever see my post on Sugar’s dream about Moonsand???? and my declaration that it would never enter my house…..well you just confirmed my genius! hugs!
December 29th, 2008 at 2:05 am
I am sorry that this has turned out to be such a terrible disappointment at the cost of the children. Some manufacturers ought to be shot at dawn for making false promises. Can you take it back to the store and tell them what a terrible mistake it was to buy it? Get them something else instead. Those poor kids.
December 29th, 2008 at 5:08 am
I’ve never heard of it but after your review I’m glad I hadn’t! Either take it back to the shop and tell them it’s not fit for purpose (a threat of getting in touch with Trading Standards usually means a refund) or write to the manufacturers with the same threat.
December 29th, 2008 at 10:03 am
I agree that you should complain to the company. I think Miss M./Miss E. should get a chance to write a letter (picture) of complaint that you can send, too. You can make a teachable moment for the kiddos and break some corporate dude’s heart when he opens a letter from sad kids!
December 29th, 2008 at 10:10 am
Wow that really sucks…
Nothing ever works as well as on TV.
Nothing.
December 29th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Guider it so does. I think we’re just going to use it as sand. Though it’s up on a very high shelf right now. ;D
Daryl, it tells you not to wet your hands, but we might try it. Then again we might just chuck it. I don’t think the manufacturers will give a monkeys. But maybe I’m just a cynic.
WT, sometimes you really worry me. ;D
Iota I am glad. It was a real disappointment and E was so upset. Don’t do it.
littlemummy exactly. How do they get away with it?
Corey I remember that dream, but they really like the look of it. I had my suspicions but I suppose I’m a bit too trusting.
Finely Tuned Woman it does annoy me that manufacturers give kids false expectations, but Miss E and M had some really lovely prezzies too so they’re very lucky girls really. I’m just annoyed that it meant such a lot to E and was such a let down. I suppose it’s all life’s lessons though.
Akela, I feel like it but I probably won’t. Venting my spleen on here has helped but I do feel like throwing it at them.
Miss Burrows that is true. I’ll ask them if they’d like to do that. You’re right, it was wrong, and I know they won’t have been the only kids affected by this.
Maureen that is so true. Sadly.
December 29th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
We got some this Christmas too. It is now all over our carpet.
December 30th, 2008 at 4:20 am
Squidge got 2 tubs of that craptastic stuff for her birthday but I wouldn’t let her play with it. FINALLY I gave in and let her play with a tub yesterday. Can you say holyclusterfuckwhatanungodlymessthatshitmakes!! So after letting her play for about 20 minutes dad distracted her while I cleaned up and put it in the bin! Whoever invented that stuff needs to be shot. Playdo is soooo much better, at least the it stays together.