BELLAIRE • MEMORIAL • RIVER OAKS • TANGLEWOOD • WEST UNIVERSITY

A slimy business

By Maddie Gardner, age 10 | October 27, 2023

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SLIME TIME Maddie Gardner, a fifth grader at Second Baptist School, concocted the perfect recipe for mess-free slime. This is one of her slimes, called “I Can Buy Myself Flowers.” Maddie Gardner, a fifth grader at Second Baptist School, concocted the perfect recipe for mess-free slime. Since the tragic Maui wildfires, Maddie has teamed up with Convoy of Hope to donate a jar of slime to the victims in Maui for each jar she sells.

2020 was a confusing time for everyone, including 7-year-old me. With all the uncertainty of what was going on, I found comfort in an unusual way – making slime. Making and playing with it was so soothing and calming. There was only one problem: my parents hated slime. It became my mission to combine, alter, and eventually perfect slime recipes, determined to make one that would be allowed in the house. After lots and lots of experiments and adjustments, I did it!

Word started spreading and friends and neighbors loved coming over to get their own batch. It became a rule in many houses that “only Mad’s slime” was allowed inside their houses too. I started getting lots of orders, and even though it was fun to make my own money, I realized I was even more excited to just be able to share my mom-approved slime with kids like me.

Driven by a desire to help others, I decided to use the proceeds to donate slime jars to school counselors’ and principals’ offices. I mean, being called into the office is probably stressful, so I hope kids can play with my slime and feel more at ease when talking about their own challenges. One counselor laughed that she already had slime in her office to use therapeutically, but that it was horrible and sticky. Watching her try my slime and love it made me smile from ear to ear.

One day I worked up the courage to approach Meg Sides, who is the owner of my favorite toy store, Learning Express, in Memorial. I asked for her feedback and words cannot express how excited I was when she said I could sell at her store! It was a dream come true. I am so incredibly thankful that the lemons of 2020 could be turned into something both fun and helpful, creating the sweetest lemonade.

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