The Piñata That Would Not Break

For my son's sixth birthday party, I bought a giant piñata shaped like a donkey. I filled it with candy, hung it from the oak tree in our backyard and handed the first kid a stick.

Then the next kid. And the next. Twelve children took turns. Nobody could break it. They hit it harder. They hit it with two hands. The donkey spun and swung and absolutely refused to break.

The dads took a turn. Then my uncle, who is six-foot-four and used to play college football, gave it a mighty swing. The donkey shrugged it off. The kids were laughing so hard they were rolling in the grass.

Finally, my four-year-old niece walked up, poked it gently with the stick and the bottom fell out. Candy rained down everywhere. The kids went wild. My niece raised her arms in victory like a boxing champion. Nobody has let my uncle forget it.