Quiet Time Fun

W doesn't take naps these days, but I do require him to have a quiet time. Although W sleeps in the same room as O, he doesn't have quiet time with him. W was very good at keeping O up. So we place W in E's room for quiet time. We make sure nothing is in there that he can destroy or use to make a mess. At first, he ripped books. That was a frustration for us all because we love our books. That ended and he became more creative with his time. He plays on his laptop, a phonics radio, blocks, puzzles, and if you give him a bag or ziploc, he'll stuff and restuff it for quite awhile. A few times, E has left a colored pencil or pen in her room and W wasted no time in writing on the walls and E's sheets. We were doing really well until E pretended she was going to camp and packed her bag for her pretend stay. She left it in her room. W discovered a treasure...one of his ultimate loves...

toothpaste!

 I opened the door with a gasp. Not only did I see W literally covered head to toe with toothpaste...I mean covered...head to toe...but I see the walls have been smeared with it as well. I then start to feel it oozing through my socks. Yes...all over the carpet. Quick sweep of the room. Every wall...check, entire floor...check, dresser...check, the entire bed...check, bookshelf...check, toys...check...FABULOUS!

I turn to E and she bursts into tears telling me she left her toothpaste in her bag. Not just one large tube, but 4 additional travel tubes AND a bottle of her red fluoride rinse. Oh, so that is what was squirted all over the place! Needless to say, I didn't find this cute or funny. I made E go downstairs and you would have thought that it was the worst punishment she had ever received. I told W (very loudly) to get in the bathtub and strip down. He cried just as much as E as he stood in the tub, encrusted in a thick layer of sticky toothpaste. While this was going on, O woke up from his nap and decided to take his clothes off...and his diaper...then pee all over his bed. I called A at work. Get home NOW. We have a situation... It was the end of the work day, so he heads home. I waited by the door for what seemed like forever. E was crying, W was crying, toothpaste and fluoride rinse all over the bedroom, and O rolling naked in his pee shouting What happened ?!  What happened?!!

I burst into tears when A walked through the door. I had had enough. I was at the end of my rope. A couldn't believe the mess and tried not to laugh over all three kids wailing from different parts of the house. There is no way we could have cleaned the room with our hands. 

We need a machine...tonight I said. 

E slept in our room in a sleeping bag as I washed her blankets and sheets. A went to buy a carpet cleaner and I worked on the messy walls and furniture. We were up extremely late trying to get the toothpaste and rinse out of the carpet. The rinse has yet to come out.

I wore a headlamp to see the bazillion spots that littered the floor. It was at this point that I decided to take a few pictures. But we were not laughing. It took awhile for me to laugh, but I did, and only because I was surrounded by several other women who could TOTALLY relate. Ah...it's good to talk to other moms.

 One of the walls starting to dry.

 

Another wall starting to dry. In the bottom right you can see one of the red spots that has yet to come out of the carpet. Grrr...

Another fun adventure, right? ;)