Thank the Lord for George Washington Carver!

What happens when you let a four year old chew a piece of gum and then forget to make sure she spits it out at some point?



This picture isn't doing justice, but as you can see from Anna's very remorseful expression, the gum gets in her hair. Her hair that you can't bear to cut because it took four whole years (you know, her entire life) to grow that long in the first place. A friend recommended trying the old peanut butter method, so before cutting off her half-curly hair, I decided to give it a go:





It took quite a while. After several minutes of having to stand still, Anna started to get pretty whiney and I told her, "Well, you're the one who put the gum in your hair, and this is the price you've got to pay." She got still again, but a couple of minutes later, she burst into tears. I asked her what was wrong and she said, "But I don't want to give you all my money!" (All $5 of it.) To which I replied, "What are you talking about? I never said you had to give me your money!" "But you said I have to pay the price!" Don't you love how literal kids are?

A few minutes later, her hair seemed to be free and clear of all signs of ABC gum. (Flashback to elementary school- remember Already-Been-Chewed?)

Next was, of course, off to the shower. Again, have you ever seen such genuine repentance?

And voila! A still long-haired Anna, clean and ready for bed!

This whole experience got me thinking - what other old wives type tales actually work? I know there are like 3 whole people who read this silly little blog, but if you've got a tried & true tip of some sort, I'd love to hear!