Bubble Trouble

I'm in the backyard with the kids, hyperventilating and nearly faint from my efforts to keep the bubbles blowing so my little ones can skip, dance, and weave amidst a sea of sparkling orbs, when my youngest tips over the bubble container.

Bubble solution oozes out, and with it goes the lighthearted spirit of the afternoon. Grace descends on her 2-year-old brother like a bird of prey, stretching his short name into four syllables, "Lu-u-u-uke! You spilled the bubbles!"

Her tirade is interrupted by a distinct sound — the unforgiving crack of hard plastic. During the onslaught, she has stepped on the little trumpet-shaped bubble wand that comes with the Gymboree "Oodles of Bubbles" kit.

I swoop in to rescue Luke from Grace, who is now somehow convinced that both bubble atrocities are his fault — the spilled solution and the broken wand.

I'm trying to soothe and reason with them — Luke's crying, Grace is stewing — when suddenly, I recall a homemade bubble recipe.

"I think we need a break. How about some ice cream?" I say, and I'm amazed at how the mood shifts.

As the kids eat, I jump online for the bubble recipe, where I'm thrilled to find it's a simple solution that only requires two ingredients: dishwasher soap and light corn syrup. Even better, the recipe includes a fabulous stand-in for the bubble wand — a homemade one fashioned from drinking straws.

Sweetened by the ice cream, Grace finds it in her heart to forgive and actually apologize to Luke, who seems content to let bygones be bygones.

Grace helps me mix up the bubble recipe and we create a new wand that I must say gives the Gymboree set a run for its money. We are back in the bubbles, but this time, Grace does the blowing.