Becky + markers =

Becky + bottle of school glue = empty bottle + gluey hair, dress, and floor =

     Recently, my teaching was suddenly interrupted one day by my 4-year old informing me that the 2-year-old was being "messy".  Well, "messy" was a huge understatement!  She had gotten into the art supplies and dumped an entire bottle of black tempura paint on the hardwood floor and then proceeded to ice skate and finger paint in it, coating the window nearby and running a black hand down the edge of a brand new package of crisp white printer paper.  Often, I take a photo of my "Mistress of Mischief" before cleaning her up, but this time I was just too irritated.  I had to use a toothbrush to get the paint out of the cracks and she ruined her "I'm a Big Sister" shirt I was saving for Mary Faith's birth.  (She shouldn't have even been wearing it that day, but that's another story.)  After I got the mess cleaned up and and my blood pressure came back down, I pleaded with my artistic toddler, "Becky, why did you have to use black paint, of all colors? Couldn't you have chosen yellow or some lighter color?"  To which she replied, "Yeh-Yo?  Where is it?", and hopped up to go fetch more paint and start all over again.  I had to restrain her and reiterate that we only do artistic things on paper!

Just so you don't think she's always a mess, I wanted to include a picture of what she normally looks like.  She cleans up pretty well.  I had to clean her and her surroundings 3 times today alone.  Once for the glue (that required a complete bath), once for the markers, and once for the bottle of shampoo (fortunately, it was only travel size).  Do you think they can make clothing out of teflon?