How Ben Ventor The Boy Inventor Deals with Sickness

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Short Bedtime Stories Presents: How Ben Ventor The Boy Inventor Deals with Sickness

Ben spent many a day trying to fake his way through sickness. He tried the thermometer under the light bulb once, but he melted the earpiece. He tried to cough fiercely, but only ended up giving himself a sore throat.

     It became so bad that when his sister Fran was actually sick, he did not believe her; believing instead, that she had become better at faking sickness than he had.

It wasn't that he wanted to miss out on school. It definitely wasn't that he wanted to be sick. What was probably the most accurate was that his mom was quite possibly the best nurse on the planet.

Staying home sick meant a lot of tender loving care. It meant lots of "oh, honey, I hope you feel better."  It also meant that Ben's mom would be saying his personal favorite: "Ben lay back down. Let me get it for you."

    So, when Ben came down the stairs actually feeling bad, he was surprised by his mom's reaction.

    "It isn't going to work, Ben," she said, when he sniffed his nose. "Fran already told me you had a spelling test today.  You are going to school."

    "That rat," Ben said about Fran. "I do have a spelling test. But, I am also not feeling well."

    This explanation had little effect on his mother’s reaction to his sickness. He still ended up having to go to school. And, he still felt bad throughout the day; especially during the spelling test. The good news was it gave him an idea for his latest invention.

    The next day, Ben came down the stairs feeling worse than he did before. His mom was waiting at the bottom looking more skeptical than the day before.

    "Don't even say anything, Mom.  I am ready to prove to you that I am sick," said Ben, holding up what looked like a blue circular sticker.

    "I'm waiting," his mom said, already convinced that Ben was about to trick her.

     Ben put the sticker on his head for exactly four seconds. He then peeled it off of his head and put it on his mom's forehead. She immediately began to sniffle and cough.

    "Oh gosh, Ben.  That is awful," she said, pulling the blue dot off of her head. Instantly, she felt better. "What did you do?" She asked.

    "I call it the sick swap dot," Ben said, showing it to his mom on the end of his finger. "You just put it on the sick person for four seconds, and whoever wears it next can feel exactly what the sick person is feeling."

     "Will it work with any sick symptoms?" His mom asked.

     "What do you mean?"

     "Well, I can see it works for cold symptoms, but what about if someone is dying?"

     "Yeah, it should work then too," answered Ben, glad his mom was taking an interest in one of his inventions.

    "This could help a lot of people, Ben."

    "I know, Mom. Imagine how many kids will finally be able to convince their parents they are actually sick."

How the swap sick dot is used today:  Ben's mom was right. Student doctors everywhere learn what it feels like to have different symptoms for different diseases. Regular doctors use the sick swap dot to find out what is wrong with people who can't talk. Kids use it to make their brothers sick when they don't want to be anymore.

How much did the sick swap dot sell for:  110 million dollars

What did Ben buy with the money:  He bought his school a new indoor playground with a skate park, a racquetball court, a basketball court and a rock climbing wall.




Don't forget to check out part 1 of Dr. Shaw's children's book series of inventions and craziness called Best Theme Park Ever for just $.99 on Amazon. Please leave a positive review on Amazon if you will!  It helps get Dr. Shaw's work discovered by others.  Also, when you buy it on Amazon, you can choose which iPod, iPhone, iPad or other device to send it to, as long as you have the free kindle app installed on that device.

How Ben Ventor the Boy Inventor Handles Secrets!

Watch Dr. Shaw perform the story above, or read it below!

Short Bedtime Stories Presents: How Ben Ventor the Boy Inventor Handles Secrets

Ben heard his sister whispering to Peter. The problem was he could not hear what she said exactly. All he heard was lots of mumbling and the word "Ben."

    "Mom," Ben called across the house. "Fran is talking about me to Peter again."

    "Mom," Fran said, beginning to imitate Ben. "Fran's is talking about me."  She threw in an extra crying sound just to bug Ben even more. "How do you know I wasn't complementing you?"

    "Because I have never heard you say a nice thing about me ever," Ben replied with his masterful deductive reasoning skills.

    "I've told you how nice your breath smells in the morning," she said sarcastically.

    "Funny," Ben said with a grumpy and unappreciative smile.             

Ben did not really think her comment was funny, but it did give him an idea for another invention.

    Three days later, Ben was sitting in his bedroom listening to a teeny tiny radio that looked like a hearing aid in his ear.

     "Ben, thinks he is so cool, Peter." Ben's eyebrows went up in excitement, happy to see his invention was working.  "But, he is not.  In fact, sometimes I have to wonder if we are related."

    Now, Ben was faced with a tough decision. Should he go downstairs and tell Fran that he was listening when she said what she said, or should he not say anything and listen to her forever more? 

     Tough choice.

    "You don't have to wonder if we are related, Fran," said Ben bounding down the stairs. "You were just unfortunate not to have inherited any of the good looks or charm from Mom and Dad like myself."

    Fran stopped what she was doing and looked at Ben seriously. "How did you know I said that?" she asked, a little outraged.

    "This," Ben said, turning sideways so she could see the little radio in his ear.

    "What is that," Ben's dad said excitedly as he came into the room. If there was anyone who was into Ben's inventions, it was his dad.

    "It's a hear-it-all." Ben said, pulling it out of his ear and handing it to his dad.

    "It just makes you hear better?" His dad said, unimpressed. "I hate to break it to you, but they already have one of those."

    "It does make you hear better," agreed Ben, "but the invention part is that it allows you to hear anything anyone says about you from where ever they are in the whole world."

    "So, if grandpa says I am a creep in Florida and I am in Utah, I would hear every word of it?" His dad asked to clarify.

    "That is exactly right," said Ben. "In fact someone is saying something about me now."

    Ben looked down to focus in on what was being said. He soon looked concerned.  "I guess my teacher at school was not nearly as pleased with me as I always thought she was," Ben said, now visibly upset.

     His dad caught on to Ben being upset.  He gave Ben a comforting smile then walked outside the back door.  It was puzzling at first until on his hear-it all, Ben heard his dad whisper, "Ben is a brilliant inventor, and I love him."

How the hear-it-all is used today:  Police listen to what the bad guys say about the person that is missing, and then find the missing person quickly. Moms and Dads listen to what their bosses say about them, and then quickly fix the problem. Kids listen to what the girl they like says about them and then quickly run away.

How much did Ben sell the hear-it-all for: 313 million dollars

What did Ben do with the money:  He bought his mom a working 30 person spa for his back yard. Every day his mom would go out there for a mud bath, a sauna, and daily massages.




Don't forget to check out part 1 of Dr. Shaw's children's book series of inventions and craziness called Best Theme Park Ever for just $.99 on Amazon. Please leave a positive review on Amazon if you will!  It helps get Dr. Shaw's work discovered by others.  Also, when you buy it on Amazon, you can choose which iPod, iPhone, iPad or other device to send it to, as long as you have the free kindle app installed on that device.

How Ben Ventor the Boy Inventor Deals with Laundry!

 Watch Dr. Shaw perform above or read it below!

Short Bedtime Stories Presents: How Ben Ventor the Boy Inventor Deals with Laundry!

“Put away your clothes!” Ben’s dad said.  Of course, he was under the direction of Ben’s mom.  But, for the moment, Ben’s dad was the man in charge. And, if the kids did not want to be in trouble, they were going to have to listen to dad.

     “What are you doing?” Ben’s dad asked as he watched Ben stuffing the shirts in the drawer.  “You are going to make those wrinkly.”

     Ben looked at his dad confused.  He understood that he needed to put the clothes away, but he did not understand what that had to do with the clothes having wrinkles.

     “If you put the clothes in the drawer wrinkly and balled up, they will come out with wrinkles all over them.  You are going to have to fold them first.”

     It is not that Ben minded folding or the putting away laundry.  What he minded was that if he had to fold and put away, it would take twice as long.  Not to mention, he was responsible for putting away  Noah ’s laundry because Noah shared a room with Ben.  So, Ben felt particularly tortured by folding and putting away double the laundry of Fran every other day.  Ben’s mom said that Fran and he just had different jobs.  Where Ben had to help with  Noah ’s laundry, Fran had to help with putting away the dishes.  But, that did not matter to Ben.  What mattered was in this very moment, he had to do twice as much work as Fran, and it was killing him.  As was usual with Ben, this terrible situation gave him his idea for his next great invention. 

     Lucky for Ben, the laundry that needed to be folded and put away usually came out every other day.  This gave him just enough time to perfect the invention.

     “Time to put laundry away,” Ben’s mom said two days later as she was bringing out two laundry baskets; one for Fran and Ben each to put away.  She plopped the baskets down in front of Ben and Fran, who were right in the middle of Wednesday afternoon tv. 

“Now,” his mom said forcefully because no one seemed to be moving.

     “My pleasure,” said Ben with a giant grin on his face.  This was not his usual response. In fact, Fran and her mom nearly broke their necks as they took such a strong double take to see who this alien creature was.  Fran’s double take at Ben was because she knew that smart aleck remarks did not go over well with their mom.  His mom, on the other hand, had jerked around because … well smart aleck remarks did not go over well with her.

     “Don’t get smart alecky with me, Ben,” she said sternly.

     “I wasn’t mom,” Ben said, backing down a little.  “It will be my pleasure because I get to try out my new invention.”

     Ben pulled out of his pocket what looked like a metal bottle cap with a black button on top.  He held it over his basket of laundry and pressed the button.  Green lighting seemed to shoot from underneath the bottom of the bottle cap and run completely through the laundry below.

     “Did you just electrocute your laundry,” Fran asked, worried that her mom was really not going to like this invention.

     “Yes, kind of,” Ben answered.  “But, for a good reason. I’ll show you what this electrical charge does to the laundry.”

     Ben picked up the white church shirt he had on the top.  He then threw it up into the air and caught it again.  But, something happened to the shirt while it was in the air.

“The clothes fold themselves in mid-air now, before they land again,” Ben said, holding up the perfectly folded dress shirt for his mom and Fran to see.  “You can throw them across the room, into a suitcase, or into a drawer.  They always land perfectly folded.”

“A mothers dream,” Ben’s mom said, really impressed by it.

“Will it fold you if I throw you in the air,” asked Fran grumpily.

“No, Fran,” Ben answered, “it only works with clothes.

From then on, Ben and Fran’s folding jobs became much easier.

How is the foldomatic used today:  Clothes factories fold all of their clothes with it.  Parents use it to fold clothes a lot faster.  And, Ben eventually changed it so that it folded a different paper airplane every time you threw a new piece of electrocuted paper in the air. 

  

How much did the foldomatic sell for: 210 million dollars

What did Ben buy with the money:  He made an Imax movie theatre in his family’s back yard.  

Don't forget to check out part 1 of Dr. Shaw's children's book series of inventions and craziness called Best Theme Park Ever for just $.99 on Amazon. Please leave a positive review on Amazon if you will!  It helps get Dr. Shaw's work discovered by others.  Also, when you buy it on Amazon, you can choose which iPod, iPhone, iPad or other device to send it to, as long as you have the free kindle app installed on that device.