Yesterday my helpers (two helpers now!) were in the mood to work and learn, so I was able to get several things done with their help.
I utilized the tween energy to make some goat’s milk lotion, since she could stir almost nonstop without it bothering her. I experimented with my new Coffee Bean FO, which definitely needs a lot of experimentation to find the right ratio! Anyway, a ml was so eye-watering that I added three versions of vanilla to mellow it out a bit. It still needs a lot of help, but anyway…My new helper enthusiastically loved it, while my nose was wrinkled and I turned the fan on to get the stink out of the room, so that experiment became her gift for helping, and she will be the tester for the Coffee Bean. (Did you know that some Tweens drink coffee before school?! I couldn’t believe how young the coffee drinkers are getting. Whoa, I’m out of touch.)
Anyway, I needed to make a batch of lavender GM samples and had her follow my recipe (a great chance to teach about measuring liquids, reading mililiters, reading recipes, and observing thorough cleanliness), and I commented about being glad to be done with the lavender items, since I can’t stand lavender. My helper took a sniff and suddenly I almost saw a light bulb come on over her head. “It smells like baby wipes!” Hm, that’s not really what I aim for when making products. Lol. She made a few comments about how neat it was to be able to make stuff smell like things from the store (which, admittedly, it is, but please not something associated with butts *sassy wink*) and we did a little lesson about the importance of chemistry, the difference of FOs and EOs, and how to read/apply ratios. I was still mulling over baby wipes when I noticed her over by the mechanic soaps.
Apparently Tweens still retain the childhood curiosity that makes them want to poke stuff. Lol. Thankfully she understood the importance of not touching or disturbing the sellable items, but that tester bar would have been crying from being poked and prodded so much if it was alive. *grin* The poor bar has wrinkles, fingerprints, and bits of soap dripping UP the mold. I had to keep reminding her to wash, because she was over there playing in it as it set anytime I turned, and rubbed it in like lotion. It was rather funny and I think it was intriguing to watch a liquid solidify in person. Actually seeing the process, “like making an ice cube”, seemed to make her day. I do think that I’ll avoid soap making with the girls over though, since I haven’t developed the eyes-in-the-back-of-my-head thing yet. *grin*
By the way, a great way to get a tween to handle processes carefully is to say that you could go to jail for not following the instructions. I doubt that it was so much about me going to jail, but more of not being able to be around the product making anymore, but I’ll take what works. Lol. It really worked for stressing the importance of every quarter mililiter being exact and I don’t feel guilty at all. It gave me a smile to hear “we can’t have you going to jail” after the baby wipes kick to the ego. *grin* I’ll take what I can get 😉
Georgia's Pampering 