Life imitates art?

There are those of you out there who wonder whether it's a good idea to imitate a favorite literary character. My experience of the last day tells me that it's not. I start my stories with a little background and finish with two examples of why NOT to imitate what you read.

A little background: Yesterday, Sarah went to a birthday party. There was a pinata. Inside the pinata was lots and lots of chewing gum. I hate chewing gum. I hate it so much, it's not allowed at my house. After the kids go trick or treating, I go through their bags and throw out all the gum. When Ammon was little, he thought the Word of Wisdom was that you should not drink coffee or chew gum. Because it is contraband, my kids love it! Anyway...Sarah shared her gum.

Example #1: Violet Beauregarde (from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl)

Nathan grew tired of his piece of chewing gum. So he took it from his mouth and stored it behind his ear. It stuck pretty well to his head--and hair. Even when Chris scrubbed and scrubbed, it would not come clean. What works for Violet, does not work in real life.

Example #2: Br'er Rabbit and Br'er Fox (from Uncle Remus by Joel Chandler Harris)

Nathan grew tired of his gum in his mouth AGAIN! He took it out to stretch it between his fingers. Before long, it was stuck (and I mean STUCK) to all of his fingers. His hands were disgustingly stuck together. He could not get his seatbelt off. It took a very patient father (mother--not so patient) and a whole lot of baby wipes to clean him up enough to go in the store. It reminded me of the whole tar baby incident. The more he tried to get free, the more caught he was.