8 reasons why parents hate slime with a passion

March 25: Fluffy Slime
Flickr | shannonb

There’s no denying that kids love slime. Last year, the slime craze even led to a shortage of Elmer’s glue in stores. While making slime can be a fun DIY project that can even teach your kids a thing or two about science, it’s not without its pitfalls.

The sticky stuff can make a big mess, which can drive parents nuts. For as much as kids love the stuff, listed below are eight reasons why parents actually kind of hate slime.

1. It Makes A Mess Of Your House

So, you clean the kitchen table off so your kids can have a nice space to make slime. Maybe you even put down an old sheet or another protective surface — but then, somehow, someway, the slime ends up somewhere else entirely: like on the living room carpet.

Luckily, if that’s happened to you, YouTuber cutelittlecupcakes mom made a tutorial for cleaning it up:

2. It Gets All Over Your Kids

In addition to being found in the most unlikely of places throughout your home, the homemade slime also somehow ends up all over your kid. A common place for rogue slime to land is in their hair, as this mom shared on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BVbU7_5hAk3/

3. It’s Apparently Addictive

At first, you may be delighted that your kids are into something hands-on that doesn’t involve a screen, but after a while you realize they’ve thrown all their other hobbies out the door in favor of making slime. The slime craze even led one family to make a parody song, based on “Time After Time,” called “Slime After Slime,” about their daughter’s slime obsession. Who can’t relate?

4. It Gets Expensive

Sure, the ingredients might not be as expensive as the latest gadget your child is begging for, but all that borax and glue can add up. As one mom pointed out on a message board, some recipes call for detergent and contact solution, which are both pretty pricey. Depending on how often your kids are making slime, it can become a costly hobby.

tide detergent photo
Getty Images | Joe Raedle

5. It Ruins Homework

Remember how we said slime tends to get on everyone and everything? Well, slime may have replaced “the dog” as the top destroyer of homework, as evidenced by this kid’s excuse written to his teacher and posted on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BT7meHYjOAK/

6. It Can Harm Pets

Hopefully your kids know they shouldn’t eat the slime they make, but if your pets get into it, it could spell trouble. The ingredients used to make slime, often including borax, laundry detergent, salt and zinc sulfide, can cause all sorts of problems for animals, from upset stomachs to kidney and lung damage.

sick dog photo
Getty Images | Joe Raedle

7. It’s Gross

Sure, slime might not be as bad as your kid rolling around in the mud, but in addition to it generally making a big mess, it sort of just leaves a trail of stickiness everywhere it goes. Your kid’s hands may end up stained, and many parents just find it kind of gross. It is, after all, slime.

Check out these blue slime-stained hands posted to Twitter:

8. It Can Get Kids Into Trouble

While some kids have turned their slime-making hobby into a business by selling it to their classmates, some schools have banned it because it’s too distracting in the classroom and creates a mess. So if you’re running out of excuses for why you don’t want your kid to make slime, just tell them it could make them a delinquent.

prison cell photo
Flickr | JobsForFelonsHub

Do you have your own slime horror stories?

[h/t: BuzzFeed]

Family & Parenting, Humor & Funny, Parenting
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About the Author
Kate Streit
Kate Streit lives in Chicago. She enjoys stand-up comedy, mystery novels, memoirs, summer and pumpkin spice anything.

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