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Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Help!!! My Son Got A Hold of a Sharpie!

Yes, this really did happen. Shortly after we brought our younger son (YS) home, our older son (OS) got a hold of a rogue Sharpie marker during "quiet time". Coincidentally and unfortunately, he and YS also had a newly painted and decorated room that they share. Not only did he color the walls with Sharpie, but the ink was bright red, leaving his room looking like a crime scene. OS was very upset when he realized that the marker wouldn't come off. Here's the first lesson I learned: 1)If you give your child washable markers, he will assume that all markers are washable. I mean really, why not?

The Big Giraffe and I didn't know whether to laugh or cry so we did both. There wasn't a real lot that we could say. I mean he was still 2, and he didn't understand that he did anything wrong. To this day the Big Giraffe and I have no idea where that Sharpie came from. I'm starting to think that someone planted it. Maybe aliens from another planet, or the people from Candid Camera. Unfortunately in addition to getting the walls, his furniture, his brother's brand-new furniture, the walls of the bathroom,, the mirror, and the co-sleeper, he also got a pile of MY fresh clean laundry. To me that was the biggest problem of all!

Yes, I know that sounds weird because surely clothes are a lot easier to deal with than repainting a wall. While that is probably true, I fell into the exception to that rule: 5 week postpartum mom. Actually on second thought, finding clothes that fit and look good is no easy feat for a lot of people. At 5 weeks I was just grateful that my maternity clothes fit and, because YS was so young, it socially acceptable for me to be wearing them (believe me if it were still socially acceptable to be wearing them at 9 months postpartum I would). However, there was no way I was going to go out and buy more maternity clothes when I wasn't pregnant. Nor did I want to go out and invest in a bunch of mumus, although now that I think about it they do look pretty comfortable...

Luckily there's a help section on the Sharpie website (apparently it's a common enough problem that it's there) and on it is a link to a product called Amodex. After purchasing it we did the reasonable thing: we got out the video camera and took footage of the room before cleaning it. The Amodex worked pretty well. I actually just recommended it yesterday to someone , hence the post today (I'll have to find out it if it worked for her.) Anyhow, with a bit of time and a lot of q-tips, I was able to get the ink out of my clothes. It also really faded the ink on the furniture to the point that you have to have prior knowledge that it's there to be able to see it. Acetone (nail polish remover) will also dissolve Sharpie (in fact when I took organic chemistry we did a similar experiment using filter paper and Sharpies), but it might ruin the fabric or paint on your wall not to mention your furniture. That was lesson number 2) Have a bottle of Amodox in the house.


A. Elliot's Lessons Learned: 1)If you give your child washable markers, he will assume that all markers are washable, and 2) Have a bottle of Amodox in the house.

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posted by Alex Elliot @ 9:20 PM   3 comments
3 Comments:

  • At 3/28/2007 5:08 PM, Blogger scribbit said…

    I'll have to check that stuff out. Good to know!

     

  • At 3/28/2007 9:10 PM, Blogger soccer mom in denial said…

    Your family is so lucky that you have such a terrific sense of humor. I think my tone would be nothing but blind rage.

    If my clothes had been creatively swipped, I would be in mourning because I just cannot stand to shop. I'm one of the few women in the world that doesn't pay attention to fashion or like to shop.

     

  • At 3/29/2007 8:39 PM, Anonymous Kim said…

    I am so sincerely sorry to leave this in your comments again, Alex. I don't know if you have tried to email me, but I noticed an error in the email address that I left. I did try you again and it was returned undeliverable. Sorry this has been so confusing.

    You can reach me at southernhospitality@comcast.net

    Thanks!
    Kim
    Your Blog Exchange Partner

     
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Name:Alex Elliot
Home:MA, United States
About Me:Professional Mom of two cats, a dog, an ant farm, and oh yeah...two boys: a 6 year old and a 3 year old. Also found in my house is my husband who is known on this blog as The Big Giraffe.
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For those of us who didn't get an instruction manual with our babies and for whom parenting hasn't always gone as planned. On a more serious note this blog is about supporting a woman's ability to make her own choices about parenting including the choice, for whatever reason, to bottle feed her babies formula.

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