The Story of a Couch

A couple of years ago, we bought a new couch. Two new couches, actually. One might be called a sofa and the other a loveseat. The loveseat is the one that has had an interesting existence, and is the couch of this story. Both couches are upholstered with a durable, deep purple microfiber.

Shortly after it came into our home, Irene was found sitting on the couch with a strong smell filling the room. It was the smell of nail polish. She had decided to paint her toenails by herself. Unfortunately for the couch, some had spilled onto the seat cushion. Fortunately for the couch, the nail polish was a similarly dark color. Nail polish remover was used, but there is left a small residue of sparkle because I did not want to ruin the fabric.

Some time later, the arm and one seat cushion were found covered in a pattern of lines of ChapStick®. Removal was puzzling. What product would remove ChapStick®? Enter Goo Gone®! It would prove to be a valuable discovery in the future.

The next adventure involved crayon. The window near the couch was covered in scribbles, and while cleaning it, I noticed that the same arm and seat cushion had also been scribbled on. I knew that Goo Gone® could clean crayon from reading the bottle, but would it clean crayon off upholstery? Thankfully, it worked quite well. Once again, the couch looked new!

It could not last. I had switched from ChapStick® to another lip balm. Irene's lips get chapped in the winter, so I allowed her to use my lip balm with permission. Well, once allowed means always allowed, right? Use only on lips doesn't really mean that, right? With the couch as her canvas, she tried to replicate her earlier ChapStick® artwork. Armed with the knowledge of experience, I cleaned it up.

Not two weeks later, Irene came to show off some body art with an ink pen. She had drawn on her arms, legs, and belly. Thankfully, I knew that rubbing alcohol would remove ink pen from skin. After she was clean, I went to the living room to relax. I sat on the couch. I was admiring my surroundings when suddenly I saw a line drawn on the seat cushion. I looked more closely. Not just one line. There were circles. I followed the lines onto the back cushion, the arm, down the side of the couch, and even a little on the back. I was afraid to try rubbing alcohol, so I left it and went to calm down. I casually mentioned to a friend that the day had not been going well, as I had just discovered ink pen on my couch. "Don't worry! I have just the thing! It should work if you haven't used anything on it yet." Amodex® Ink Remover was what she brought me that night. Once home, I immediately went to work. It took out every last bit of ink without damaging the fabric! Perhaps the adventures of the couch could come to an end, finally.

It was not to be. Today, I found Irene beind the couch with her washable crayons. I looked further, and she had decorated most of the back of the couch in yellow, green, and blue. Excellent, I thought, at least they're washable. But how does one wash a couch? Perhaps a baby wipe is the answer. I tried one on a small area. It worked! This time, instead of cleaning it myself, I handed the baby wipe to Irene. "You made the mess, you need to clean it up," I said. She did, and the couch is like new. For how long? I wonder.

What are the kidlets up to now?

We have an update on the dairy thing! Helen is not allergic! Perhaps she was three months ago, perhaps she wasn't. I re-introduced it, watched carefully for a reaction, and got none. I'm thrilled to be able to feed her foods that are more in line with our family diet, but I got a taste of the difficulties moms of kids with allergies face in this day and age. There are so many hidden allergens in our processed foods. Even some of the less processed foods have surprising ingredients. I am thankful that our government requires ingredients to be listed, and even more recently that they are listing common allergens together at the bottom of the ingredient list.

Helen is quite the busy toddler. She is very focused and very girly. Her baby dolls are pretty much her favorite toy, as she can often be found holding one to her shoulder while patting its back. Kisses are freely given, and have recently progressed from wide open mouth touched to kissee to a *smack*. The *smack* doesn't require her lips to touch anything for her to consider the kiss made. She gives Irene goodnight kisses that are aimed in her general direction, but from a safe distance.

Irene has started playing the piano, using one finger/note at a time. Sometimes it sounds like a real song for a while, then suddenly a note that you don't expect and she goes off into her own song. It probably is only coincidental, but it is still pretty cool to recognize bits and pieces of songs in her playing. She hasn't started any lessons yet, but her dad is already watching her form, and noticing that it is not too bad! As far as other learning goes, she almost knows her whole alphabet now! We have been taking a relaxed approach for now, after all, she isn't even four yet. She can "read" Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed, even to knowing whether a "he" or a "she" monkey fell off the bed (she can tell from the picture, but she really impressed her grandpa before he realized that--she said "One fell of and bumped his head. Oh, I mean her head.")