After his artistic expression, I used Baby Oxi Clean (the spray) on the carpet and couch and let it sit for a bit. Then I scrubbed it with HOT water and dish soap. It came out!! This isn’t the first time that this couch has taken abuse from the Lil’ Duck, however….
Thankfully it wasn’t on my walls, but if it was, I would have used Neurotic Mom’s comment suggestion of the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. Thanks for all the comments and suggestions - I do have a lock on my fridge, but he is never getting chocolate pudding again.

Apparently Lil’ Duck likes things messy. I vacuumed and tidied up yesterday afternoon - he sat and watched me do it all, then as soon as I finished vacuuming the living room, he walked over to the cookies that I’d just picked up off the floor and crumbled them into bits, then tossed them up in the air and laughed. Adding insult to this was his trampling of it into the once-clean carpet while cackling and yelling, “vacuum, mama, vacuum”.

Now this morning I find a whole bag of graham cracker sticks, a slice of pumpkin loaf, and all the toys back on the floor. I should have taken a photo, it would have lasted much longer. Of course that brings me to the inevitable question of why I even bother…..

What doesn’t work:

Windex & Clorox spray (just smears it)

What works:

Baking soda mixed with warm water

Baby wipes

Fingernails

Mr. Clean Magic Eraser

Two hours of cleaning - doing laundry, putting it away, vacuuming, dishes, etc etc. I come out into the living room after this and find a pile of graham cracker sticks, several pieces of chalk, several markers, and the entire contents of his toy box. He’s giving me baby kisses as we speak, ha ha ha.

He has decided that all food belongs on the floor - the entire box of crackers that I just bought yesterday, a box of animal crackers, a bag of saltines, the dried Gerber fruits, a bunch of those little yogurt balls, the remaints of his bagel bites that he didn’t eat for lunch, and more. I think my vacuum will refuse to start when it sees this mess.

It isn’t that I don’t vacuum, as I do this daily or even more often, and I do like my house to be clean, truly. After prying my entire collection of forks out of my VCR again (I would be very surprised if the thing actually works after that, and I also wonder if you could get shocked like sticking a fork in a toaster?) and contemplating the case of bottled water that is now rolling all over my floor, it hardly seems worth the effort. You know that he will just do it again, and he breaks into the pantry whenever he wants and takes out whatever he wants (don’t forget the seasoned salt, right?).

Of course, we aren’t going to live in a sea of dead food, so I continue to clean. It could be spotless, but by this evening, it will be right back to this again, of that I am sure. The little guy has a play vacuum and he runs around pretending to suck his messes up, and happilly announces to me that he made a “mess, uh-oh Mama” and that we must “vacuum, vacuum, WOW mama, vacuum” as he drags it out of the closet. At least someone likes to vacuum around here - how long until he can do it himself?

This would all be a little easier to deal with if he hadn’t been up until midnight last night, and I hadn’t been up past 2am getting things done that I was going to do much earlier after he SHOULD have been in bed. Of course his cheerful greetings at 6am were not well-received either. I’m the one who needs the nap around here, for sure.

Links:

Conservative Cat

Planck’s Constant

Since the little duck came along, my house has never again been clean. I have to strike a balance between pure chaos and just a general baby house, however, and since I hate cleaning, 20 minutes is all I will devote at one time to basic chores.

• Vacuum (It’s really about the prep work).
• By the time you pick everything up off the floor to start vacuuming, things look better already. Getting all the stuff up off the floor is just a perk.
• Flip the dishwasher (10 minutes well spent).
• Getting those dirty dishes out of your kitchen - need I say more?
• Take out the trash (more room to toss MORE stuff, and the house will smell better too).
• Clear off the main surfaces (desks/countertops/etc) - it doesn’t matter where the stuff goes for the moment, the lack of clutter will inspire you to take care of it later.

That’s all. If it took you more than 20 minutes, you worked too hard. Only vacuum the areas that need it, usually just the main living area. Feel better??

The couch has lived through several moves, the baby days, and even a Koolaid baptism. However, in the past few months it has endured much abuse from my budding artist, who thinks that markers should be used to color on everything BUT paper.

Today, however, the final straw occured. You see, being the lazy parents that we are, we gave him a sippy and sent him on his way, while we continued to sleep. However, the child proceeded to turn on the TV and sit on the couch to watch his shows. This wouldn’t have been a problem if he hadn’t also overflowed his diaper. Now my couch is not only stained but smelly.

Despite the warning labels that give dire predictions about what will happen if we remove the covers (but go figure, there are zippers on said covers), we removed the cover with great effort and put it in the washer. As soon as it is dry, I’ll let you know if I can get it back on, and if it is still smelly and stained. In the meantime, if you come to visit, don’t sit on my couch.

At least the little one thinks that the bare couch is a new toy, and is jumping gleefully on it.