Thera-putty

Almost 2 years ago, I had to have some surgery on my hand. The kids were fascinated by how gory my hand looked and by all of the staples, stitches, bandages and such. The surgery required some serious physical therapy, and one of my exercises involved something called thera-putty. My thera-putty just so happened to be neon pink....an absolutely irresistible glob of goo to a 2 year old!


Around Christmas-time and just after my surgery, Aunt Becca (aka my sister Erin) came home for a visit. She arrived while Reeves was in school, so Lucy and I went to the airport to pick her up. It was hard to find time to do that thera-putty therapy, so I often did it in the car (it involved kneading it with my hand). As you can imagine, the kneading made it pretty soft and warm.


I had been working on it for a little bit as we drove back home and Lucy asked if she could see it. I was just so excited to have my little sister home, I said "sure, Lu" and handed it right to her. What perfect entertainment for little Lucy! She would be occupied and I could catch up with Aunt Becca. In fact, we were so involved in our conversation that we didn't even notice the shenanigans Lucy was getting in to. Until we heard a little voice from the back seat say,


"Look Mommy" (and it was very calm and casual by the way)


We turned around, and this is what we saw...


Of course I asked Erin to see if she could just pull it out. She inspected it a bit and said... "I think it's gonna have to wait till we get home. It's bad!"
How bad could it be....I mean really!?
By the time we got home, it had absolutely melted to her scalp. This stuff is like silly putty mixed with playdoh mixed with modeling clay mixed with glue (oh, and it's NEON pink!)
I was absolutely overwhelmed with the disaster!
I worked on it for a little bit (well, a long bit), and this is as far as I got....


By then (at least an hour later), it was time to call in reinforcements! I was not going down without a fight! It had taken her 2 years to grow this hair, and I was not going to cut it....no way, sista!

Millie to the rescue! She is a dear friend (and hairdresser extraordinaire) and I knew she would have the answer. What you see here is a mix of conditioner, mayonnaise, and peanut butter (chunky peanut butter to be precise...that was all I had. Note the chunks!). Throw in some patience, a Popsicle (or 4) and a fine toothed comb and you have a miracle!


No scissors required!