While waiting for a phone conference to start the other day, one of our vendors shared an ordeal she faced over the weekend. It was her three-year-old’s birthday and he received a little electric train that zipped around a small circular train track. As our vendor lay on the floor setting up the track for her son, he proceeded to run the electric train over her head, firmly entangling all six train wheels in her hair.
Other party-goers worked on de-tangling the train for nearly half an hour, when her husband hit on the idea of dismantling the train while it was on her head. He grabbed a mini screwdriver kit and got to work. But, as he started unscrewing the dozens of minuscule screws, he accidentally turned the train back on, eating up even more of this poor woman’s hair. An hour later, they resorted to scissors and cutting the train out of her hair.
As a mother of two boys, I’m no stranger to these kinds of incidents. Of course, the kids’ classic “Oh-no-it’s-stuck-in-my-hair!” dilemma is chewing gum. But toys? It’s a lot more common than you may think. Enter Bunchems.
Bunchems are small plastic balls that stick together to make creative shapes. And, they also stick to hair. Needless to say, parents are not a fan. Take these vehement reviews from parents on Amazon who describe them as “little plastic balls with fish hooks on the ends”:
“A toy spawned from the darkest depths of hell: Horrible, horrible, horrible toy for kids. I just spent the last two and a half hours (absolutely, 100 percent not an exaggeration) attempting to remove 14 of these bastard balls out of my daughter’s hair. Buy this toy for someone if you hate them or their child.”
“Step away from the Bunchems. Stuck in the carpet, in the dogs hair and don’t even get me started on the kids hair at least I do have boys….They are now bald thanks to these bastards! It doesn’t matter how much supervision is involved, we are still talking about children. These little demon spawns bring hell to your home!”
Even mega stars are not immune to enduring a hairy ordeal. Beyonce got her hair stuck in a fan when she left the stage to sing with a fan. She made the best of the situation, though, poking fun at herself by rewriting the lyrics to her song “Halo” and sharing them on Instagram: “Gravity can’t begiiiin/to pull me out of the fan again/I felt my hair was yankiiin/From the fan that’s always hatiiiin… I got snatched!”
What about you? Have you (or your kids) ever had a hair-raising run-in? I’d like to hear about; maybe it will make my vendor friend feel better about that new bald spot she’s sporting!
Happy Monday,
~Mary
