Slime Lover

Kids love slime. As if the bodily version wasn’t enough, there are toys with names like “Barrels O Slime”. The slime in each barrel comes in a different color. Yuck, you say? One’s man revolted reaction is another man’s marketing opportunity. So we have Yucky Science kits (yes, there is such a category) like Galaxy Glitter Crunchy Slime Making Kit. I guess different colors weren’t enough, the world was missing slime that could glitter. And be crunchy.

You’d think my daughter would have been thrilled to get a kit like this. But no. Turns out her friend had already tried out a YouTube video to make slime. And failed. It won’t work, proclaimed the other kid with the pleasure that comes from dashing someone’s hopes. As far as a kid is concerned, in a parents v/s friends opinion contest, the friend knows best.

Not one to accept defeat, my wife pretty much forced my daughter into trying the kit out. And boy, did it work. I am guessing the ingredients were perfect because she mixed them anyway she liked and it still produced slime. Not of the glittery, crunchy variety, but slime nonetheless. (She eventually tried making it the follow-the-instructions way as well).

A kid’s idea v/s a parent’s idea of “doing science” is never the same, as Calvin observed with some bitterness:

Such toys were put in perspective as I was reading Walter Isaacson’s book, Innovators. Gordon Moore, he of the Moore’s Law fame, recalled kits from his childhood:

“In those days there was really neat stuff in chemistry sets”, Moore recalled, lamenting that government regulations and parental fears have neutered such kits and…”

Now comes the Calvin-like lament:

“…probably deprived the nation of some needed scientists.”

So what would be an example of such neutering that Moore was missing?

“A small quantity of nitroglycerin, which he made into dynamite.”

If you are horrified, maybe it’s because you are a wuss. After all, Moore turned out just fine, didn’t he?

“ “A couple of ounces of dynamite makes an absolutely fantastic firecracker,” he gleefully recounted in an interview, wriggling all ten of his fingers to show that they had survived such childhood foolery.”

After reading Moore’s views, kits to make slime, even the glittery, crunchy kind don’t seem like such a bad idea, do they?