My New Name Is Sucker

My eldest child asked me last week if she could invite a couple of girls over to tye dye some shirts. Never one to deny my children the opportunity to be creative (shut up) I approved the plan, but with the understanding that they would do their work in the grass and clean up their mess afterwards. Maggie immediately agreed and much texting followed with the girls planning to ride the bus home with Maggie after school last Friday.

Remembering my own attempts to tye dye in college, I had visions of buckets of dye sitting in my yard and a long drawn out process. Can I just say that tye dye technology has grown by leaps and bounds since 19ahemahem? There were no buckets, only squeeze bottles and little packets of premeasured dye that only needed water added to it.

Which really, was good, given my daughter's inability to read directions enthusiasm for the project. Those girls were all Directions? Are there directions in the box? Oh!! You mean that piece of paper with all that writing and pretty pictures on it? Why in the world would we need to look at those?

I left them to it and when I came back a little later, I found small drops of dye on their finished shirts and rivulets of dye dripping off of the girls. Apparently it's not a party until you are dyed rainbow colors for a week and look as if you were involved in a horrible chemistry experiment that went terribly awry.

When the girls put their hands together they made ROY G BIV. They each had a section of the rainbow.
Guess she'll be wearing pants for awhile. Did I mention that the temperatures have been in the upper 80's with high humidity?
Maggie looks as if a vampire has taken a bite.
I don't know what got her. Zombie maybe?
True to their word the girls cleaned up their mess and hosed off the driveway. But I have to say that I was giving my wine bottle quite an ogling during the whole episode.

I enjoy having my home open to my kids' friends. I like to get to know them. Having them here means I know that they are being supervised. But really? I am sure the other parents were thinking that they dodged a bullet and wondered exactly what kind a sucker I am to have teenagers running loose with dye-filled squirt bottles. I'm thinking someone else gets to host the next shirt making party.

Unless it involves iron-ons. I could totally get behind that.