Making a fun toy funnier!

The other day I was in a pet store picking up some of the necessities.
Things like N-bones, Totally ferret senior, and oh yeah, some cat food.
Yeah I have a cat too, a mackerel striped tabby cat named Igor,
pronounced eye-gore. Straight out of Young Frankenstein. If you don't
get the reference, I suggest you rent the movie. Anyhow, while I was
there, I decided to pick up a new tube for the guys to use. They
shredded their last one some time ago.
I came home all proud of myself for being such a good dad and
took the tube out and attached it to the big ball thing made for this
purpose. The first thing I noticed was that the tube wouldn't stay
stretched out, the spring would pull it back together. I pulled it
way out and held it there for a bit, but it would slowly pull itself
back together. I stretched it out and left it. The kids showed it
sporadic interest at best. Whenever I went in I would stretch it
out for them. It was clear that it wasn't as much fun to run down
a short little thing as it was when it was stretched out.

We went on for a few days doing things that way. I would
stretch it out whenever I went in, which is frequently. When
I did this there would be about 10 minutes of high intensity
play and then they would stand around waiting for me to
do it again. This was all the youngsters playing, Sasha,
Ozzie, and Lizbeth. Lil and Starlight are much to refined for
any such shenanigans. Anyhow, one day I had an epiphany,
what if I stretched out the tube and tied it into a knot like a
pretzel? Brilliant I thought and enacted this plan as soon as I
got home.

The 3 kids were having their playtime when I went to
implement plan. Ozzie always flips out ecstatically when
I come in the room while he is out, and this occasion was
no exception. This always transfers to the other 2 as well,
making it a little difficult to get the tube picked up, stretched
out and pretzel-ized with 3 ferrets jumping on you. I
accomplished my task though, and the 3 of them went to
town with it. It was the coolest flurry of frenetic ferret frenzy
I have seen in a long while. It is a riot with all 3 of them in there
at once! The down side of it is that they go at it with such gusto
that within 10 minutes, the tube is lying out straight again.
Then they come at me, jumping up on my legs to get me to do
it again. I think it is good that it won't stay knotted up, because
then it would become just the same old toy and wouldn't get
used as much.