My daughter just finished one of the two big projects she is doing in third grade: The Indian Diorama. The students are given an American Indian tribe to study. Then, with copious help from their parents, they construct a miniature lifelike scene depicting said tribe.
Enter the Evil Hot Glue Gun.
Before I had kids, I had never heard of the hot glue gun. I'm not an artsy-craftsy person by nature. I remember the quizzical look one of those Scrapbooking Quiltmaking PTA Moms gave me several years ago when my older daughter was in third grade. I remarked, "How the hell are you supposed to make this stuff stick to the cardboard?" Aghast, she answered, "With a hot glue gun, of course!"
Of course.
So I went to the craft store and bought a hot glue gun. And I quickly learned why they call it a hot glue gun. It took two weeks for the skin on a couple of my fingertips to regenerate. I didn't play guitar for a while after that.
Fast forward to last weekend. Another third grade diorama awaited me and the evil hot glue gun. Oh, but this time I was going to be extra careful. Or so I thought.
My daughter and I worked on this project for three evenings -- constructing little huts, painting the cardboard, spreading the stuff that melts and looks like water, etc. And then it was time to glue. And just when I thought I was out of the woods -- when we finished everything -- it happened. I stupidly pulled the glue stick out of the glue gun before it had completely cooled. A big glob of molten glue landed on my knuckle. Instinctively I tried to quickly rub it off. And then I realized I had rubbed off the top layer of knuckle skin.
Ow. It hurt. A lot. It smarted for days. It still looks like hell. It still hurts. I'm trying really hard to keep it from getting infected. I was going to post a photo, but then I realized it was just too gruesome -- some things are better left to the imagination.
Damn stupid evil glue gun.
My daughter's diorama looks pretty good, and she is happy. We got to spend some quality mother-daughter time building it. Next year, the big project will be constructing a Spanish Mission. You guessed it -- Return of the Evil Glue Gun, Part Two. But this time I think I'll take all my craft materials directly to the hospital waiting room. A little planning will save everybody a lot of trouble.
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