One of my favorite things to do with babies is freak them out. But only if they want to. It scares the baby’s parents so much, but they do get to find out whether the baby will want to go on roller coasters when they grow up.

It’s simple, really. Find a little cart. Get the baby to sit in the cart. And then push them at high speed backwards.

My uncle has two babies: one a boy, and one a girl. They hadn’t seen me for a year, but they still remembered me. They began laughing the moment I saw them.

My uncle had a little car for babies. It couldn’t drive, but the kid could sit in it and pretend to drive, all the time the car being pulled along on a rope. It was perfect for my little roller coaster. Virtual roller coaster.

For extra safety, I latched on the seat belt onto the boy, who was going to be scared out of his wits with me. I grabbed the front of the cart, which worked better than the rope, and pushed.

The fact that the sidewalk winded a little bit just made it more fun. The boy screamed and laughed. I yanked it to a sudden stop. He giggled.

I pushed it again at high speed for one second, then pulled it to a stop again. He giggled.

Then I turned it around and pushed the cart back to his parents. The girl was sitting on top of my uncle, and was kicking furiously. She was put down, and immediately started pushing the boy to get off the cart. She wanted to ride.

“No, no,” the boy said. He wasn’t quite finished yet. I laughed.

“Looks like your little roller coaster was a bit hit.” my uncle said laughing. I started panting, and he noticed it. “You wanna carry the boy on your back while you rest?”

I looked at him. The boy was beginning to drool.

“Er, thanks, but no.”