Today’s Homemaker

One thing about working at home with kids — sometimes you take a break to discover that you should have been suspicious that they were playing well together for so long. You should have known they would be drawing all over each other with blue permanent marker. You regret ever having made up a poem making fun of your friend’s kid who did the exact same thing. It’s not so funny when it happens to you.

Or maybe it is. I could barely keep a straight face seeing my daughter with blue EVERYwhere (including eyelids) and my son in the same predicament. What wasn’t at all funny was the marker on a few prized toys and, of course, the clothes they were wearing.

The bad part about it was that I didn’t really have a lot of tough stuff to clean with. I use mild cleaning products for most everything, so I wasn’t sure what in the world I’d try. Rubbing alcohol does nothing, I remembered from past experience. Paint thinner does little more. I had no idea what to do.

After scrubbing the kids’ faces with baby soap, I gave up on that front. They still have faint, but very noticeable, blue lines all over their faces and body parts. The stuffed toys that have buttons to press on their paws and tummy cannot be washed, and carpet cleaner hasn’t worked, unfortunately.

But there is a glimmer of hope in this sea of blue. Underneath my sink was a lone can of Lysol disinfectant. I sprayed it on the plastic and painted wooden toys, and the marker seemed to dissolve right on the spot. It literally bled down the side and was easily wiped off. And this had been on there for at least a half hour, to my chagrin.

I wish I had known this the last time this happened. We might not have had to repaint the fireplace.