Sticky Mystery
Sometimes you just have to laugh. Even when you don't feel like laughing, much. And I'll give you this about parenting-- though it makes me want to pull my hair out at times, there are plenty of opportunities for chuckling.
Last week J suddenly shot up and out of his church pants. Not only were they at least an inch too short, he couldn't manage to button them. Extra money not being in plentiful supply right now, I was thrilled to find a good pair of pants at Goodwill that looked like they would work for J.
Sunday he wore the pants to church, and happily they fit him perfectly. But alas, tragedy struck early! Less than five minutes into Sacrament Meeting, Terence was chivvying J out into the foyer. I was rather distracted with S and K and so didn't really pay much attention. But soon Terence had popped back into the chapel to whisper to me that he was taking J home to change his pants, since J had sat in something and gotten it all over the back of his pants. I stared at him in consternation and reminded Terence that J had no other church pants. When I followed Terence back into the foyer to see if I could clean off his pants off, the sight was appalling. His entire rear end was covered in gooey, sticky white patches. It was kind of like gum but not exactly. Anyway, it was impossible to wipe off, and it was everywhere. I conceded that Terence would have to take J home and went back into the chapel, only to find that some of the gummy grossness had come off J's pants onto the padded bench.
Oh dear.
I spent the rest of my time in the meeting (while I wasn't manhandling squirmy children) trying to scrape off the goop with my fingernail. It only kind of worked.
Terence found the source of the white sticky mess-- it was all over the back seat of the van. Must have been Halloween candy of some sort. When he brought J back to church (wearing his only pair of jeans), he had to put a towel down on the seat so that J wouldn't get more of the stuff all over.
I finally took up the towel and tried to deal with it today. I spent twenty minutes scraping it off with a razor and then scrubbing fruitlessly with a damp rag. Some of it came off, leaving scrapes in the nap of the seat cover. But there is still enough of it there that the towel will have to cover it again, lest we end up with more ruined pants.
Yep, J's new pants were not salvageable. And no, I still don't know what kind of candy it was.
I'm choosing to laugh. What else can I do?
Last week J suddenly shot up and out of his church pants. Not only were they at least an inch too short, he couldn't manage to button them. Extra money not being in plentiful supply right now, I was thrilled to find a good pair of pants at Goodwill that looked like they would work for J.
Sunday he wore the pants to church, and happily they fit him perfectly. But alas, tragedy struck early! Less than five minutes into Sacrament Meeting, Terence was chivvying J out into the foyer. I was rather distracted with S and K and so didn't really pay much attention. But soon Terence had popped back into the chapel to whisper to me that he was taking J home to change his pants, since J had sat in something and gotten it all over the back of his pants. I stared at him in consternation and reminded Terence that J had no other church pants. When I followed Terence back into the foyer to see if I could clean off his pants off, the sight was appalling. His entire rear end was covered in gooey, sticky white patches. It was kind of like gum but not exactly. Anyway, it was impossible to wipe off, and it was everywhere. I conceded that Terence would have to take J home and went back into the chapel, only to find that some of the gummy grossness had come off J's pants onto the padded bench.
Oh dear.
I spent the rest of my time in the meeting (while I wasn't manhandling squirmy children) trying to scrape off the goop with my fingernail. It only kind of worked.
Terence found the source of the white sticky mess-- it was all over the back seat of the van. Must have been Halloween candy of some sort. When he brought J back to church (wearing his only pair of jeans), he had to put a towel down on the seat so that J wouldn't get more of the stuff all over.
I finally took up the towel and tried to deal with it today. I spent twenty minutes scraping it off with a razor and then scrubbing fruitlessly with a damp rag. Some of it came off, leaving scrapes in the nap of the seat cover. But there is still enough of it there that the towel will have to cover it again, lest we end up with more ruined pants.
Yep, J's new pants were not salvageable. And no, I still don't know what kind of candy it was.
I'm choosing to laugh. What else can I do?
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