The Hidden Costs of Elmer's Glue

I must preface this story by admitting--as my wife so kindly pointed out to me--that if I had just hung up my coat last night none of this would have happened. But instead I unknowingly laid it down right on top of our children's drying art work. And three year olds use a lot of glue.


So this morning--minutes before I need to leave to catch my bus--I found this


stuck to the sleeve of my coat. Not just stuck--really stuck. So stuck that removing it was also removing bits of my coat. So Jaime decided she would try to steam the glue loose. But while it's steaming the coat actually dipped into the water and, although the paper and glue is gone, some sort of sponge effect happened and now my coat is soaking wet from the elbow down.

The coat's made of something in between suede and regular leather and it's going to take a long time to dry. Meanwhile it's 25 degrees outside and I do a whole lot of walking in order to get to my classes, classes that I am now skipping because I don't think Greek is worth freezing to death over. Hebrew, now that's another story. So I'm sitting here hoping my coat will dry by 2:30 or desert winds blow in from the Sahara and get things above 32 degrees.

So the moral of this sad story is either:

1. Don't be a slob--hang up your coat.

or

2. Don't let your kids use Elmer's glue.

You decide but my vote's on 2.