Scenario Number One: Child Number One is fighting with Child Number Two. As the fight escalates Child Number Two, who has a wad of gum in their mouth, proceeds to take the gum out of their mouth and grind it into the hair of Child Number One.
What do you do?
Scenario Number Two: Despite being told not to chew gum after going to bed, your child pops a couple of pieces of gum into their mouth and, in the morning, comes to you teary-eyed and fretful because, not only are they sporting the proof that they did something that you told them not to do, the gum that was in their mouth when they fell asleep is now entangled in their hair.
What do you do?
Scenario Number Three: Your child is in training. They’re going to blow the world’s biggest bubble-gum bubble. They huff, puff and blow until they’re red in the face and you start to think that your ambitious child is about to pass out. Then, the bubble breaks. A world record isn’t achieved, but the huge bubble your child blew is now a sticky mess that’s clinging to your child’s hair.
What do you do?
Do you reach for a pair of scissors and begin cutting out the gum? You could, but you don’t have too.
Do you open the freezer and apply ice to the gooey candy, making it hard enough to try and scrape off you child’s hair? Yeah, that would work as well. But you should also be ready to hear your child tell you that your fingernails on their hair as you pull at the hardened gum are hurting them.
Or, do you go to the cupboard and open up a jar of your favourite peanut butter?
Yep. Peanut butter; creamy or chunky, take your pick!
Dip your fingers – or knife or spoon – into a jar of peanut butter and massage into the gum in your child’s hair. The oily properties in the peanut butter will break down the gum and all your child will have to do is wash away the peanut butter!
Take it from someone who knows! I almost got an impromptu haircut before someone told my mom about this little-known property of peanut butter.
Also, peanut butter can be used to get gum out of clothing. Massage peanut butter into the gum until the oily properties in the peanut butter break down the gum. Then, treat the clothing with a de-greaser as to remove the oil stain the peanut butter left behind. Remember – don’t put that piece of clothing into the dryer between washings. The heat from the dryer will lock-in the oil stain.
Good Luck!
Image courtesy of robohara.com
