We painted the house

By we, I don't mean my husband and I, nor do I actually mean that I helped in any way. So, we is the wrong word - they. THEY painted the house. They being my (spawn) children.

I'll put it right out there: Kids are liars. When a 5 year old agrees to take a nap, you can assume that she is waiting for YOU to fall asleep, so she can go climb the cabinets in the kitchen, get out the finger paint, some paper plates, paper, cheesecurls, and juice and have herself a painting party.

You can also assume that not all fingerpaint is exactly washable, at least from carpet. The carpet I spent 4 hours treating, scrubbing, and shampooing on Friday. Yes, that carpet. The carpet that now has a 5 foot section that looks like it has some kind of spot-disease.

It was not all her fault, her 2 year old sister helped her after I got her out of her crib, and was cleaning up the 2nd floor. She went downstairs in search of her Barbie, and came up covered in paint. The foot note to that is that she also covered the hardwood floor in the downstairs hallway, the powder room sink, and the wall on the way up the stairs in paint, and left handprints on her sister's bed sheets and my bedsheets (but on my husband's side..he he he).

To recap: Kids can't be trusted. Kids are dirty. Kids are lucky they're loved very deeply, or I'd trade them in for some kittens with wolverine claws and a vomiting sickness, because they'd be much less trouble than my (spawn) children on a bad day!

May I present exhibit 39,352: This is not from today, but it will give you an idea of what I'm up against. This is my 2 year old, after my 5 year old decided to mix all finger paints together, and paint her sister.

I used to encourage free play, and let the kids learn and play without having constant supervison to stifle their creativity.

Now I'm all about putting the kabosh on that.