I found Maggie last night with a pack of gum she'd stolen from my purse. Will and Cole were each chomping on wads of gum the size of their fists and Maggie was unwrapping what appeared to be her 6th stick. Not a good situation.
I did what any frazzled mother would do, I began grabbing gum out of my children's mouths, shoving it into my own mouth to prevent any further mess, and assessing whether any damage had been done to clothing, furniture, or carpet. It seemed that all was well.
But this morning I found that I had missed one crucial mess. Maggie had 3 pieces of gum stuck to the back of her head. In her hair. I did what any frazzled mother would do. I shoved Maggie's hair into a ponytail and ignored the ruinous green globs.
When bedtime rolled around, I figured I'd better do something about it. Some people say "Never go to bed angry." I say, "Never go to bed with 3 big pieces of gum still in your hair from the previous night." Both good pieces of advice.
I googled "How to get gum out of hair" and found the solution: olive oil. I doused the hair with oil and scraped with my fingernails. Clumps of gum were coming out. I added more oil. Then more fingernail pressure. And eventually we were gum free. So we shampooed to celebrate.
Hopefully I can prevent any future hair-gum collisions, but if not, I'm glad I have olive oil on hand.
10 comments:
Im glad you got the gum out without cutting her hair. That is good advice I will use olive oil if this happens.
Ugh. Seb got silly putty in his hair a while ago. I tried everything---peanut butter, olive oil, cooking spray, hand sanitizer, etc.---and it was still SO sticky. Maybe I should have let it sit longer. Anyway, I cut some of it out. And he wouldn't sit still, and it pulled his hair and hurt, and it was altogether just a ghastly experience. Hopefully never to be repeated, as silly putty is now Forbidden in our house. (So don't go bringing any in next time you come over. Or we'll put you in the ovenses.)
I bought one expensive dress for Ginna when she was about ten - more expensive than I could really afford, but so lovely. And the first Sunday she wore it, she got gum stuck all over it. I can't remember what I did (after the first screaming fit), and maybe the fact that I can't indicates that it turned out okay. Or maybe I just repressed the memory. Or maybe I'm just - you know - losing it -
this post made me LAUGH SO HARD.
"shoving it into my own mouth to prevent any further mess" FUNNY!
Oh the gum in hair fun. Silly putty is worse. It's actually forbidden in our home.
Glad you were able to find a solution.
Thanks for the laugh~
I love it that you put the gum into your own mouth.
I've done this. More than once.
And I also may have eaten a piece of homemade pizza from dinner last night found under a little kid chair. For breakfast.
Ewww... I can just imagine the panic when you first spotted the gum! GOOD FOR YOU for doing the olive oil. I'd never heard of it. Awesome trick. GLAD IT WORKED, too!
Peanut butter always works. That is what I used to use. I think I even heard once that coke worked too, but I'm not sure if that is right or not.
My mother used to use PB on us. I have used both PB & Oil on my kids. The oil does a much better job, though I have heard that PB does better on fine hair, as straight oil just makes it too slippery.
Me, I woulda cut it out of her hair in big ugly clumps all the time saying - "Not enjoying this? Oh-ho, well then don't do it again. EVER." And then I wouldn't have let her wear hats or anything to cover it up till it grew back.
But then I'm a "no sugar-coating, that's life - suck it up" kinda Mum like that.
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