Permanent Means "It Doesn't Come Out!"

One Monday morning a couple weeks ago Caedmon was having some "room time" and I was working on my grocery list. I could hear him playing happily back in his room, so enjoyed a few uninterrupted minutes to get something done without going to check on him. That was mistake #1.

Mistake #2 was that I left the door to Andy's home office (directly across from Caedmon's room) unlocked. We leave that door locked 95% of the time because of some unfortunate messes that have been made in the past featuring a wide variety of office supplies. But for whatever reason, this day, the door was unlocked.

Mistake #3 was that a Sharpie marker had somehow made it down low enough to be within Caedmon's reach. I thought I had all those things hidden way up high, but one particular HOT PINK one had escaped my notice. Caedmon noticed.

When I finally went back to check on him, this is what I found:

It was all over his face, arms, and legs, and his clothes had to be thrown out. But my much larger problem was the Picasso Caedmon left on the walls and carpet. I spent the next 5 HOURS cleaning. I used everything you can imagine to clean those spots. Evidently I am not the first mom to have this happen because there were plenty of suggestions on Google when I searched "how to get Sharpie out of carpet".

Carpet cleaner, hand sanitizer, windex, toothpaste, finger nail polish remover, oxi clean, Mr. Clean's Magic Erasers... You name it, I tried it. Midway through the clean up I took Caedmon to Target for more cleaning supplies. I didn't bother cleaning him so he looked like a Native American streaked with war paint ready for battle.

While I cleaned I made Caedmon sit in his bed for time-out. He could see me from across the hallway and kept saying over and over in a cheerful voice, "Mommy, are you happy? Are you REALLY happy?" Ummm, no.

You can still see the spot but I was pleased with how much I got out. Here's the finished product:

That night, Andy took Caedmon after dinner so I could have a some time to myself. A little while later there was a knock at the door. I opened it to find Caedmon standing there with a big bouquet of flowers. He said, "Here, Mommy. These will make you feel better!"

And they did.