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Addendum: special thanks to Pop for wheeling Oscar around the neighborhood during Little House. As Joey said, Pop is the babysitting MVP. But enough with the sports metaphors.

Also this weekend, Charlie took it upon himself to squash several of Grandma's lipsticks and lay waste to a whole palette of eye shadows. He also accidentally broke one of her discontinued Crate and Barrel "Strawberry" lunch plates. So when Grandma called me this morning to ask what kind of liquid or gel or cream did we use in her living room that took the color out of the carpet, I started to get a stomach cramp. It suddenly seemed like a really good idea to take up smoking.

"It's like bleach. It bleached out the carpet," she said. "Totally bleached it out! I put Resolve on it but it's not like a stain, it's like the color is gone."

I racked my brain. Aquaphor, as I learned from the steps to Paula's basement, will turn carpeting dark gray. And nothing I'd give the kids to play with, like bubble soap, would be so caustic.

"Wait," my mom said. "Wait. Is it the sun? I'm so sorry. It's just the sun. The sun is reflecting off the metal arm of the chair," she said. "Sorry!"

I secretly suspect this was punishment for the plate.

Comments

[Joyce]

Your secret suspicions are correct. Too bad it wasn't Charlie who answered my phone call. M

[Heather]

Eeek! So good to know about the aquafor. We use it to keep Nate from getting an infection in his crazy deep thigh rolls, and for the drool rash. Will be careful!

Also - how loved is the strawberry plate? Do you know about the place that buys up china patterns and such and calls you when a piece you are looking for comes in? My Mom has used it. Let me know if you want the info.

[Jill]

Heather, I do want that info.

And I must post a correction courtesy of Paula: the dark gray splotches on her basement stairs are toothpaste; it was her old house where the kids ruined the carpet with Aquaphor.