The Damsel in Distress

"Fair Maiden's Guide for Handling Household Mishaps"

Dear Mr Clean,

Please accept my apologies in advance for giving away the magical secret ingredient in your magic erasers. I assure you, I stumbled upon it quite by accident.

Yours Truly,

Fair Maiden

Today, a mean little fairy visited my house and challenged me to 3 mothering tests. 1) Your precious princess just climbed onto the table and scribbled all over it in permanent magic marker. What do you do? 2) When you fix test #1, how do you prevent it from happening again? 3) When you fail test #2, how do you learn from your mistake?

So I cleaned up the permanent marker with baking soda, vinegar, and paper towels. Then, I moved the markers to the kitchen counter and scooted all of the chairs away from the table so she could climb up again. Unfortunately, I also scooted one of the chairs into the kitchen. So, Little Miss Peach climbed up when I wasn't looking, grabbed that same marker, and colored all over said chair and counter top. So, I cleaned it up again. (By the way, it's easier to get black marker off of faux marble than finished wood.) Then, as I was walking away, I remembered not only to move the markers to an unreachable area, but also to put away the vinegar and baking soda in case my precious princess got any more bright ideas.

The whole experience reminded me that I haven't cleaned my bathroom in a month, so, after I doubly bested test #3 by putting Princess Peach down for a nap, I took my soda and trotted off to the bathroom to scrub the tub.