Immediately that sounded bad. Hubby had been on the phone for the last 15-20 minutes with his chatty Grandmother and I'd been pricing tuxedos online for the twins who are going to be ringbearers in my brothers wedding mid-May. The twins were in the basement playing Star Wars Guys. We typically don't let them play down there very long alone because it is harder to hear them. However, the main room has been toddler proofed as has the laundry room side minus a few boxes tossed in there from the recent kitchen remodel. One box was craft items that all formally resided in a children's craft cabinet. These craft items included around 6 squeeze bottles of kid's paints.
The twins have been really into arts and crafts lately. Crayons, markers, chalk, stamping, stickers, gluing things, but we hadn't pulled out the paints in a while. Clearly a mistake on my part as they've apparently watched Daddy and I painting the walls, cabinets, furniture, and trim of the kitchen with envy. "Only on paper" has been the phrase of day as we do each art project and with the exception of occasionally going off the side of the paper on to the table or floor, I think they finally get it. We haven't had a crayon scribble on the walls or table in months. We never really covered the rules of paint though ...
I went to see what happened and observed what looked like a murder scene on my carpeted basement stairs. There were large puddles of red paint and a few puddles of brown paint that at first glance looked more like wet blood vs dried. I walked past that to see a rainbow of colors splattered Jackson Pollock style on removable panels of FLOR carpeting of the exercise portion of the divided room. I also could clearly see paint spilled on the linoleum floor of the laundry room. (Deep Breath)
"Mommy, I made you a bird!" was the explanation offered from Cormac and "We Painted" was all Declan offered. "Only on paper" was all I could say to them as I walked around. "Paint goes only on Paper unless you are a grown-up like Mommy and Daddy". It was a learning experience for everyone involved.
You can't really and truly yell at your child when they were simply doing what they've seen you do. It holds true for nearly any aspect of parenting. It goes without saying that if you swear like a sailor you shouldn't be shocked to find out you have a foul mouthed 5 year old. If your house is constantly messy, their room, folders, and locker will be too. So, is it really a horrible shock to me that after over dosing on a real life version of HGTV around here lately, they suddenly decided to paint the floors?Instead of screaming, we opted to make this a teachable moment. We've had a lot of "what can toddlers paint on?" discussions and "can you paint without an adult?" discussions, followed by "several not allowed in the laundry room without an adult" discussions, and "we only paint in the kitchen discussions". I've done my best to cover what was clearly not previously covered, a teachable moment this time but if there is ever a next time .... you'll likely hear me screaming like a sailor at the twins clear across the country.
The carpet? I think the stairs are a total loss, but I have a carpet cleaning service coming on Thursday to see what if anything they can do. I needed the family room done anyway. We removed all the Flor carpet squares and washed them individually in the sink. It all cleaned up beautifully, but I am still trying to dry them out. It's a sunny day outside today, so that should do the trick. Coincidently, I have a review of Flor about to post in regards to our kitchen project. Needless to say, I've now tested this product one step further. The linoleum washed right up too. A few items of clothing had drops on them too, but they all washed up just fine.
Hubby's Grandma? She's doing well, can't see the little angels again in May.
The Tuxedos? I'm thinking it may be worth it to pay extra for something dubbed stain resistant.