Green food coloring: a lesson learned

I love being reminded of parenting tips, so long as I don't have to experience them first hand.There are several stories I have heard that have been great reminders of what not to do when in charge of the care of small children.

I have decided to share my parenting story, which hopefully has made me a wiser parent. It has, in the least, improved my arm muscles.

A few weeks ago I was folding laundry when the phone rings. J is calling to tell me he is on his way home. The girls were playing in the family room with me, but had just started venturing back to the play room. It is ok, I think, our play room is baby proofed. 

TWO minutes into my conversation, a thought bursts into my head. It is rather quiet I had better go check on the girls. I immediately tell J I have to go.

I have a small glimpse of how the people of Troy must have felt after they let that horse in.

I had left a container of green food coloring on the counter.

I saw two green faces looking up at me, with green hands, and green clothes. I see green all over their play kitchen. There are little hand, knee, and foot prints amongst a big circle of green.

I swept them up and placed them in the tub. I would like to tell how calm I was, but that would be a lie. I then put M in her room, and told her I had better not see her until the garage door comes up, and she hears her dad. I believed she sensed my emotion, because she did not come out until J went in and got her. I placed E in her crib with whatever toys were handy. I needed her in a safe place, because I knew time was running out.

I knew, that the longer you let a stain go untouched the harder it is to get out. The mess was bigger than I had first thought. It was on toys, their table, and their was another spot on the carpet by their bins.

I scrubbed for 3 hours that night. The next morning J asked if I could live with it that way. My expressions must be easy to read, because he said that we could price new flooring when he got home that evening. I love his willingness to help me out. I was guilty, and I prayed. Then I Googled. Praise God it wasn't red (that would require ammonia). There is a ten step process. You start with step 1, and if that doesn't work go to step 2 etc. Step 10 is if all else fails you can call a professional carpet cleaner, or you can have your carpet professionally stained that color. Now as appealing as primary green carpeting is, I decided to tackle it. I got it out in steps 8 & 9.

I feel empowered, and have very little humility toward  my stain removal abilities.

Here is a picture of our play room today: