have you ever...

Have you ever had someone squirt four bottles of neon food coloring all over your brand new carpet?

I have.

The other day I was upstairs drying my hair, and Andrew walked in and proudly said, "Look at my mess, Mom!" I looked at his rainbow stained hands and feet, threw him in the tub, and ran downstairs to assess the damage. My family room carpet looked like a preschool art project. Actually, my family room carpet was a preschool art project.

While I waited for the carpet cleaners to arrive, I blotted, blotted, and blotted.

3 rolls of paper towels later, the cleaners arrived and got out as much as they could, but you could still faintly see the color--it drove me crazy. I couldn't help but stare at it while I was in the room.

So I googled for solutions, and tried a solution of vinegar and dish detergent. It got a little more color out, but it was still pretty visible. I decided I would just have to live with the rest of the set in color. Maybe find a nice rug.

A few days later I talked to my mom on the phone, and she asked if I had tried Oxi Clean. I picked some up at the store and guess what?? It lifted that color right out. I'm a believer.

Here are some pictures of the offender, sleeping peacefully as I frantically tried to fix his mess. See the pink hands?

I'm pretty sure the whole idea was to paint his toes...see how each toe is individually painted? The toes on the other foot are all pink. Almost a week later, the color is still there. When we are about to remove his shoes now, he plays a little game and says, "What will it be mom? Pink or blue?"

On the food coloring box it says "to remove from skin, wash repeatedly." Several baths later, I can tell it's going to take a lot of washing. I couldn't find instructions on the back of the Oxi Clean box for removing stains from little boys.