Take for example the humble little silica gel pack that comes with every purse or tote bag you buy. Have you ever opened one? If not, why? Is it because the tiny package screams THROW AWAY DO NOT EAT?
Violet came downstairs yesterday with a tiny cup of liquid and asked us to help her "solve the mystery". I smelled it and guessed correctly that it contained soap from our bathroom sink. It also had a gritty substance in the bottom. Violet stirred it with one of the 10,000 striped drinking straws that she keeps stashed about the house and asked us (again) to solve the mystery. Aaron and I looked closer and saw tiny, clear beads amid the grit and soap bubbles.
"Where did these come from Violet?" A tiny bit of panic was hidden in my voice. I imagined gutted beanie babies and snipped costume jewelry.
"It came from the craft room. I opened a little package." Violet was not the least bit concerned, only curious.
I went up to the craft room and found an opened silica gel pack on Vi's desk. She had very neatly cut it with her safety scissors.
After we interrogated our child to make sure she had, in fact, not ingested any silica; we fished some beads out of the cup for a better look.
Mystery solved.
This makes me feel guilty. Nora had one of these packets in her hand last night, and I made her throw it away. What a grinch! Thanks for the reminder to stay curious (and indulge their curiosity).
ReplyDeleteGreat detective work!
ReplyDeletePaul has eaten those - no major side effects so far :)
ReplyDeleteYou are a very cool mom! Excellent homeschooling moment.
ReplyDeleteI love that she had a "mystery" to solve. My kids started doing that after being introduced to Scooby Doo. Who says a cartoon about a talking dog and his off beat friends isn't educational?!
ReplyDeleteUm, just so you know, the same stuff in those gels packets are related to the stuff in your herbs and seasonings known as "silicon dioxide", an anti-caking agent. In things such as taco seasoning and chili powder. So if we're not supposed to eat the big packet, how much are we accumulating in our bodies by eating tacos and chili?
ReplyDeleteThings that make you go hmmm?
funny! a couple weeks ago some of my high school students decided the DO NOT EAT instructions really meant "please try me and don't tell the terrified student teacher until you've eaten half".
ReplyDeleteinteresting that a 4-year-old doesn't immediately put them into her mouth -- it's the 15-year-olds we have to worry about!