Thoughts of the Day

So, I know I promised to post more about Wildwood, but I just HAVE to share this tale first!

The kids and I spent a while outside in the wonderful spring weather this afternoon upon returning from Benjamin's class trip to the Hershey Zoo. I was marveling in the fact that FINALLY they are old enough to entertain themselves outside for 30 minutes or more while I work in the gardens. We went back outside again later in the afternoon while Jim was mowing, and the kids continued to entertain themselves! In fact, it was going so well, that Jim and I just blew through our normal dinner time and kept working. We came in for a "late" dinner (at 5:45) and then went directly upstairs for showers and bedtime (normally at 7).

It is so rare that both Jim and I are around at bedtime, that it is almost a treat when we are! This evening, we decided to divide and conquer; Jim took Ellie and I took Ben. Everyone was showered, dried, and dressed quickly.

Then Trouble struck. I was brushing wet hair while Jim brushed teeth. On Ben's head, I encountered two large, sticky "chunks" of hair that I couldn't even begin to get a brush through! (Jim was of course gloating, since he hadn't been the one to wash Ben's hair...) Thinking out loud, I said,"What could that possibly be?!?" Without hesitation, Ben said, "Sap."

Apparently, while entertaining himself outside, Ben had spent some time attempting to scale the pine tree on the side of the house. ...the very same pine tree that we just cut a bunch of low limbs off of, thus leaving large weeping spots. :-)

After googling "How do you get sap out of hair," I found myself standing in the kitchen massaging glops of mayonnaise into my son's freshly shampooed quaff. (This seemed like a better option than rubbing in peanut butter and heating it with a hair dryer, though.)

Ben found the whole thing WAY too funny. He was laughing hysterically while muttering something over and over about not being a sandwich. I think his Sense of Humor is ready for elementary school...

Trying desperately to avoid a second shower for the evening, I had Ben stand on a chair and hang his head in the kitchen sink while I washed the mayo out with hand soap. The mayo seems to have worked surprisingly well...I'm just not sure if I got all of the oil from the mayo out. We'll see what it looks like in the morning...

So, my two profound Thoughts of the Day:

1. God bless Google.
2. Mayonnaise gets sap out of hair...rather well!