We're Not Sure Whether to Laugh or Cry at this Mum's Hair-Raising Toy Nightmare

Every house has a list of items/toys that are banned. Recorders. Sharpies. Glitter. Anything that sings Baby Shark over and over again.

Well, ladies and gents, you can add Bunchems to this growing list. These popular sets are tiny devil toys in the disguise of colourful balls, ready to ruin your world, as one mum recently discovered.

Lisa Tschirlig Hoelzle shared her hair-raising experience of discovering her son had dumped a container of Bunchems into his sister’s hair. And the nightmare that ensued as Lisa tried to remove them.

Get ready to laugh. And cry. And be SOOO grateful that this wasn’t how your weekend went down.

Bunchems hair hell

It’s Friday. The kids have wrapped up virtual homeschooling and Lisa has sent them to play quietly. Together.

A few short minutes later and her son, Noah, comes running up to her, announcing that his sister “had something stuck in her hair”.

Something huh.. maybe a rogue barrette? A sticker perhaps? Worst-case scenario – a piece of gum?

NOPE. Something, as it turned out, was an entire container of Bunchems.

Bunchems hair — Imagine discovering THIS situation in your daughter’s hair! Source: Facebook

What is a Bunchem, you ask? Bunchems are basically the equivalent of a toy bur, designed to stick on one another like velcro. I’m not sure who thought these things were a good idea, but, whoever did is probably laughing his ass off right now. In hell.

mum central — It’s all fun and games until these little arseholes get stuck in your hair. Source: Facebook

So, let’s recap. We’ve got a container of burs. Ready to stick to anything and everything. Now imagine this container of burs dumped directly into your daughter’s thick hair. Happy flippin’ Friday.

Operation remove bastard Bunchems begins

As Lisa explains, it wasn’t just a few little Bunchem burs either.

She had about 150 of these things layered and matted in her hair. They made it worse trying to remove them because they connect together kinda like Velcro.

It took me about three hours to get out 15. Before you knew it , it was 1 am and Abigail could not keep her eyes open. I slept with her head on me so they wouldn’t get more tangled.”

Bunchems in hair — A Bunchems hair nightmare. Source: Facebook

Okay, so by this time, you’d probably be contemplating just cutting the bastards out, right? But Lisa’s daughter loves her hair and she just couldn’t do it, especially as she would have had to nearly buzz cut the hair to get them all out. Fair enough.

Lisa tried pretty much everything to get the rest of the Bunchems out – Conditioner. Vegetable oil. Mineral oil. The latter one worked the best and, 20 hours later, Abigail’s hair was Bunchem-free. Thinner. But Bunchem-free.

Bin your bloody Bunchems!

CHUCK EM IN THE BIN. Not the kids. The Bunchems. But, also, kind of the kids too. At least the little brother.

Spread the word, trash your Bunchems if you have them or if you love them, where a shower cap when playing with a sibling!”

Jokes aside, Lisa does mention that her son felt awful about it and that her daughter was an absolute champion while attempting to remove them. And Lisa? Well, she deserved a freakin’ medal for this mammoth effort!

Have kids, they said…

As it turns out, Lisa isn’t the only mum who discovered the pure evil that is Bunchems hair hell. There are heaps of similar experiences of Bunchems hair tangles circling Google.

So, the next time you see Bunchems in the store and think to yourself, “Oh, those look creative and fun”, just don’t. Turn around. Back away. Avoid eye contact. TBH, you’d be better off with a container of glitter.