Sunday, I was cleaning up dinner, Kevin was in the office, Jameson was finishing up his food, and where was Ella? I went to get something out of the garage, turned the corner, and found a mural on the wall! That’s right. A nice blue mural done by blue dry erase marker. An artist, standing on a chair, so she can reach higher, concentrating so hard on her drawing that even her ringlets were still.

I gasped. Yelled for Kevin. Then turned away before I did anything I would regret. Kevin came in, and gave a similar reaction. When I saw the small 2 year old concentrating so hard, I admit, my second though (not my first!) was to get the camera. I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. Kevin grabbed Ella, told her no, and sent her to her room, where she ran crying. Once she was out of sight, Kevin laughed. I was still irritated, but couldn’t help but smile. Kevin grabbed rags and some alcohol and started rubbing. I went for something better. I gave him a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, which did, in fact, magically erase the marker as if she had drawn on a white board. I went and got Ella from her room, handed her a sponge, and told her to start cleaning.

Kevin really thought we were going to have to paint the wall, but once cleaned, there is no trace of blue anywhere. (So if Mr. Clean needs some promotion, give me free product and I will gladly let you use our story.) This was the first mural we’ve dealt with. I’m sure it’s not the last, thanks to a big brother who leaves markers accessible to our artist. Jameson has never colored murals for us, but then again, I never gave him crayons or anything until he was older. Even his nursery leader laughed that he didn’t know what to do with crayons. Why would I set myself up like that? Anyway, looks like we’re in for it. This little girl loves to draw and will draw on, apparently, anything.

To be fair, Jameson got in trouble last week. We were at the church for Music Makers/playgroup, and when leaving, Jameson thinks it’s funny to run the other way. Ella followed, I was tired, and it was raining. Ella turned around when called, but Jameson was not coming. I put Ella in the car, got in, and started the car. Jameson was still determined to “play the game” of chase. I was not up for it. Instead, I pulled near the sidewalk he was running by. As soon as he realized I was now chasing him in the car, the game was on and he took off. Well, I got closer to him, and then laid on my horn. Admit, not my best moment, but I was tired and didn’t want to yell. It stopped him dead in his tracks. I got out, he turned around, now crying. I helped him in the car without a fight or struggle. Then, the whole way home we talked about why I honked the horn at him. We talked about how I love him and that when he runs away from me, he could get hurt and I don’t want him hurt. Let me say, it was very effective. For the next few days, when I asked him to get in the car, he would run saying, “Don’t honk the horn at me, Mom.” Now, it just takes a small reminder that we don’t run from mom or I will have to honk that horn, and he doesn’t like that idea at all.

So there you have it. Our trouble makers. I have a friend that posts the trouble her kids cause, and it makes me feel better. To know it’s not just my kids, or sometimes that there are worst things my kids can do. Hopefully, our trials the last few weeks will help someone else out who’s had a bad day with their kids.