So I'm pretty sure I'm about to ban two things entirely from the house. It's not that these things THEMSELVES are evil, it's just that my kids can't seem to figure out how to manage them properly.
1. Red drinks
2. Slime
It's funny, each girl has one particular substance that, no matter the training I give them, they just CANNOT handle. They can apply all sorts of rules and restrictions to other things, but they have an Achilles heel when it comes to that one thing. Yes, I've figured out how to clean these things out of pretty much anything. But it's just not worth it anymore.
Madison is the worst when it comes to anything that's red and liquid. Let me be clear - I don't keep fruit punch in the house. But when she gets the chance, she is ALL over it. We go to Sonic, and out of the gajillion slush flavors, she wants cherry. We get Gatorade at a competition, and she chooses red. We go to the movies, and she's all over the red icee. Italian Ice. Sno Cones. Fountain drinks.
So that's fine. I'm a big believer that if you go so far to forbid something, you make it all the more desirable and encourage devious behavior to get it. So I just don't have it in the house and I try to limit exposure.
But, BUT, the issue is that she's picked up on my habit of not finishing drinks. But she also doesn't like to waste what she thinks is her favorite thing. So she brings it home in the to go cup and INEVITABLY spills it. The cup could have a lid welded on, and she will find a way. She spills on her new clothes (even if she wasn't wearing them). She spills in the car. She spills on the floor. It's frankly pretty impressive how talented she is at spilling red drinks when she doesn't spill drinks of any other color.
And Reagan with the slime.
Good Lord, Reagan with the slime.
So I banned slime making from the house, because it's just a mess. And then they wash their hands and the gluey residue is all over the counter and sink and towels. And I banned Reagan from buying slime.
But slime finds a way to Reagan. She gets it in goody bags. From birthday parties, from church, from well meaning babysitters, from everywhere. She hops into the car on the way home from a birthday party, and before I can even ask all the right questions, she's "accidentally" dropped the slime on the floor of the car. And it popped open.
Or she got it, but she didn't KNOW she got it until she got her goody bag up to her room and opened the egg. And then she THOUGHT she closed the egg back up, but it turned out she didn't seal it and now there's slime oozing all over her dresser.
Again, it's pretty impressive.
As I inch closer to getting the new car, I'm realizing that I have to lay down the law. I may have chosen the black interior for a reason, but I still don't want the spills. So I've got to start saying no.
All goody bags ride up front with me, at least until I can verify the contents.
No leftover drinks ride in the car, unless, again, they're up front with me.
I can do this. I can beat these stain masters.
