MARK MY WORD: WHEN YOU HAVE A YO-YO, LIFE HAS ITS UPS AND DOWN

Life is full of ups and downs, particularly if you're playing with a yo-yo.

Our oldest daughter, Becca, has suddenly discovered the joy of "walking the dog" and doing other yo-yo tricks.

It's amazing how a piece of string wrapped around a wheel-like item can mesmerize even adults.

Becca recently received a yo-yo at a birthday party. It made a bug-like sound when it was rolled and unrolled.

Becca thought it was cool. Of course, the only problem was that the string was tied too loosely around her finger.

It routinely fell off her finger, crashing to the ground and sending the two little batteries flying across the kitchen floor.

But I would quickly pop the batteries back in, and the yo-yo would beep again.

I commandeered the yo-yo from time to time. I couldn't resist playing with it.

I told Becca that I was just trying to get the string loosened up. It seemed like a perfectly good excuse to me.

I'm sure my daughter just thought I was hogging it.

These days, Becca's even more intense about yo-yos.

That's because she attended a yo-yo assembly at Alma Schrader Elementary School last week.

She and the other students saw a performance by professional yo-yoer Luke Breneman.

This guy tours the nation performing tricks at school assemblies.

That's the great thing about America. Even a yo-yoer can make a living.

Breneman, who lives in St. Louis, graduated from college with a theater degree.

Instead of doing Shakespeare, he spends his days crafting four-leaf clovers and other yo-yo tricks.

As a result of the yo-yo assembly, Becca and her fellow students were allowed to purchase yo-yos after school last week.

Of course, school officials made it clear that yo-yos, however entertaining, were clearly out of bounds in class.

Schools have to have rules, nevermind that yo-yos are the second oldest toy known to man.

The first yo-you reportedly was used around 10,000 B.C.

It was originally used as a weapon, but then what would you expect of a 4-pound rock tied to a 20-foot cord?

Thankfully, yo-yos are much smaller now. Otherwise, our home would have been demolished by now.

In the hands of a 7-year-old, a yo-yo can be a lethal weapon.

Napoleon's troops -- who clearly were much older -- played with yo-yos between battles. That, no doubt, led to his Waterloo.

The modern yo-yo was first spotted on the finger of a Filipino busboy in Los Angeles in 1927. The rest, as they say, is history.

There apparently is no end to what some people can do with yo-yos.

Fifteen-year-old Jennifer Baybrook of Burlington, Vt., can light a match with her yo-yo. But then she is rated as a professional yo-yoer.

As a dad, I'm not ready to let Becca play with fire, even if it's at the end of a yo-yo.

Still, there's one big advantage to a yo-yo. It bounces back.

It's too bad all children's toys aren't tied to a string. It would make it a lot easier to tidy up.

Of course, it would take some practice and a really strong finger to reel in all those toys.

Becca's not ready for that trick. She's content to walk the dog. We're pretty sure it won't run away.

~Mark Bliss is a staff writer for the Southeast Missourian.