[note: I’m reposting this as a public service to all the people who may partake of piñata pummeling on Cinco de Mayo.]

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I didn’t have piñatas at my birthday parties as a child growing up in Michigan.

It wasn’t until I gave birth to two native Texans that I caught wind of this potentitally treacherous trend. I actually purchased a few of these perilous paper-mâché repositories for my daughters’ birthdays over the years, unwitting parent that I was – back then.

But now I know better.

According to this web site, “every 47 minutes there is another incident of piñata-related violence.” Even respected writer Dave Barry has spoken out against the pitfalls of piñatas. It’s only a matter of time before they make it onto the ever-vigilant Stephen Colbert’s Threatdown list.

Consider yourself warned.

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Piñata Good Idea?

Party planners say ya gotta
have a big and bright piñata

stuffed with sweets and treats and toys
for the giddy girls and boys

who are eager to get swinging,
sending gobs of goodies flinging!

But letting kids go whacking wildly
seems unwise (to put it mildly).

Could there even be a faster
way to guarantee disaster

than to make a weapon handy
to kids clamoring for candy?

©2010 Carlotta Stankiewicz