Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Never Have Children-

So Today I was giving my kitchen a good scrub. In my absence for two weeks they did a pretty good job of keeping the main rooms tidy but the cabinet fronts were looking dirty so I did the dishes some floor sweeping and began wiping down the dirtiest offenders. The garbage cabinet-this one makes sense and the drawers with saran wrap and foil were the dirtiest (not sure why that one was so dirty). While I was cleaning there were these splashes of red that would not come off. On closer inspection the red splashes went across to another cupboard and a couple on the floor. I asked my oldest daughter (who feeds my grandson pickled beets quote often) if she had recently cut up some beets or spilled beet juice. She said somewhat forcefully that it was not beet juice and then after a few minutes confessed that she had opened a cupboard door (the medicine shelf) and a bottle of fingernail polish had fallen from on high and shattered all over my kitchen. Apparently she and my younger daughter (Cinda) had attempted to clean all of it up but they must have missed the three areas I then discovered today.

While in the cleaning process I also found a big chip out of the cupboard. She is claiming no knowledge and it is likely from some broom accident or something.

Two years ago while I was away teaching on my two week stint the three older girls actually tried to open a large jar of pickles in my once carpeted family room. They opened it it spilled and apparently vinegar launched all over my furniture and carpet!!

arghghghgh if you value you nice things avoid children. My office mate suggests that we should just live in a hovel until the kids leave from home before attempting any home-fix it.

sigh.

There-two posts in one day.

2 comments:

Lonicera said...

When I had just arrived from Argentina in 1973 aged 20 I was staying with my father's brother and his family in Guildford and they asked me if I would make "dulce de leche", the delicious toffee you can make easily by boiling an unopened tin of condensed milk for 2 hours. "No problem" I said, and put the tin in the saucepan. Trouble was I was new to British TV, which I thought was amazing - and two hours later one of my cousins puts her head round the door and says very quietly "I think you'd better come and see the kitchen."
The problem was of course that I had forgotten to keep adding water to the pan, which had boiled away to nothing, and eventually exploded the tin of condensed milk ALL over the kitchen - walls, ceiling, you name it, it was there. And the saucepan was now oval. Bless them, my two cousins frantically tried to help me clean up before my uncle and aunt got home - we wore ourselves out, but you go try and find every vestige of sticky condensed milk after it's exploded...
I was fortunate because my aunt is a sweet person who had been wanting an excuse to redecorate the kitchen - so in the end it was my uncle who wasn't best pleased - being of the generation where kitchen work is women's work, he thought he had got out of it till he realised he was going to have to pay for the re-decoration. They've never let me forget the incident, it's trotted out whenever I visit them!!
Caroline

Tina said...

I would not be nearly as annoyed if it were not for two things-1. I know I put the fingernail polish up in the high cupboard while confiscating it from Grace and 2. I just redecorated the kitchen. It is not even finished yet as it is still waiting some kick trim and wall trim.

arghg :)