My 14-year-old son has gone very low tech with his rockets lately. Though in the past he has had summer classes that used the retail rocket kits, the latest "launch" was a bottle of Coca-Cola and mentos. It gets quite a bounce, but there are no flames.

I was cleaning in his room one evening, retrieving dirty laundry, when I found a packet of little twists of paper. With a sinking feeling I walked to the kitchen phone and called him at his father's house, where he was spending the evening.

"What are these things I found in your room? Are they illegal?" (I didn't have the heart to ask if they were some sort of drug).

He thought for a moment, then laughed.

"Throw one on the floor, Mom. Right there in the kitchen."

Pow! little pops emerged from an invisible spot on the tile floor.

"Those are some poppers I got on a deep discount after July 4th," he told me. "They don't work very well." We still chuckle about it, but he knows to expect questions any time something with an unfamiliar look turns up.

SRS