This past October I found this on my wall:
This piece of graffiti was doodled by my sweet 2 year old Cesar.
This actually occurred when I was sitting 2 feet away reading a book with my 5 year old son Bency. I did hear a tapping noise and do remember slightly glancing in that direction, but just thought he was tapping on the wall….and the lamp…and the windowsill of our large bay window with his fingers.
But alas, that wasn’t the case and each of these things was covered in blue crayon.
Now, you may be surprised to hear that having two older children this was actually my first go around with the crayon on the wall trick.
I had heard about the brilliance of Mr. Clean’s Magic Eraser for such cases as this but had never purchased one before. I finally got around to buying one in November to erase the evidence of his mischief.
Oh my heavens, I was beyond delighted with this little product. A foam sponge that you just wet a little bit and off comes the crayon in one swipe. Not only was there a hint of blue left behind on the sponge but also black….meaning it had picked up dirt that was not visible to the naked eye.
I began going around the house cleaning up scuff marks and all kinds of things that I had tried numerous times to wash off with a rag and soapy water. It was all coming off!
By no means am I a clean freak and all of these marks and blemishes had not bothered me before but watching them come off so easily was like watching a magic show!
I’ve heard other people say before that cleaning is a stress relief for them. This has never been the case for me. I view cleaning as an obligatory duty. It has to be done every day with three small children in the house. Every time I clean, I am slightly disgusted with the grime I come across and am totally disheartened when all my hard work is messed up 5 minutes after I get it done.
But the Magic Eraser was different. With every scuff and blemish I erased, I felt a little lighter, a little brighter and a lot less stressed.
Throughout the holiday season, I took out my Magic Eraser quite a bit. There’s no end to dirt and scratches in our house. When I got overwhelmed with how much was on my to-do-list, I took out my little foam sponge of wonder and performed my magic tricks around the house. It gave me the extra oomph I needed to tackle the wrapping, baking and projects that needed to get done.
As for the rest of my house…well there’s always cleaning to do, so much in fact that I could relieve the stress of about 10 people who are into that sort of thing!
Hi Melissa! Thank you so much for sharing this on cleaning. There is another product called GOO Gone, but I don’t know the brand at this moment. Learned about it while working at a Childcare Center, and it works. I do enjoy clraning, I can relax better in a clean place. Great Day! Nice Pic. Be BLESSED, Mtetar
You know what…I do own Goo Gone! We bought it when we painted and got some paint on the woodwork! It worked magic with that! It never crossed my mind to try it with the crayon! I do like things tidy and picked up around the house but when it comes to scrubbing the floors and cleaning the stove and bathroom and…haha…I sure do need motivation!!! Thank you so much Mtetar!
I do agree about the bathroom, floors, especially at my age, lol. Thank for replying, and you’re always welcome. Mtetar
My youngest was the first to colour on the walls too! She’s also 2. 2010 put out some very creative, wild children!
haha!! I was thinking it was the birth order thing and being the youngest he’s going to be my devilish child….now I can put all the blame on 2010!!!! LOL!!!
Haha, I went around my house looking for things to clean when I first found out about the AWESOMENESS that is the Magic Eraser too (several years ago)!! You know, my kids *still* haven’t used crayon on the wall but if anyone would, it’d be Samuel, so I”m sure he will someday! 😉
I can’t believe how long I held out on getting the Magic Eraser! I should have bought it years ago too! Yes, I think these third children are really going to give us a run for our money!!!
Haha, yes most likely!!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE Magic Eraser! I put mine to use when my then two year old took a black sharpie to the white refrigerator about one hour before we were expecting guests. Yikes! 🙂
Oh, that is hilarious…I’m sure not so much at the time but we all need to have a couple of those moments in our lives to keep things interesting!!
I love the touch he added to the decor. 🙂 And your children are gorgeous. 🙂
Thank you so much Coleen! Our living room is green and blue so it really did add a nice touch and matched so well! I kept it up for over a month and when anyone came over he proudly pointed out his masterpiece that he had contributed! Melissa
Now if he becomes a world renowned artist it will be sad that it was magic erasered away.
🙂
I did notice his good eye in color coordination.
Thanks for reminding me that I got one of those magic erasers in a Christmas grab bag. I was just thinking yesterday that I should clean off all the smudges on the doors and around light switches, and I was wondering what to use!
Now that I know how amazing they work I think I am going to start handing them out for Christmas gifts too! Great for cleaning and stress reducing all in one!!
Your experience with the magic eraser is much like my own. I know give it to my son when I ask him to clean. He gets so excited that it doesn’t even feel like a chore, LOL!
That’s the true beauty of it! It feels more like a toy or that you have just pulled off the ultimate science experiment or something!! Every kid should get one for their birthday!
That Magic Eraser thing may be the best invention since sliced bread. Alas, it wasn’t around when Fangette was three and wrote on my white couch (don’t ask why I had a white couch) with a green “washable” marker. Suffice to say that no kind of marker washes off of a white couch.
That’s a great pic of you and Cesar. Great.
Thank you! I found this spray awhile back at a janitorial supply place called Oxy Action. It is amazing at getting stains out of the carpet or upholstery. We had a pen explode on the couch and I got the ink out. The only problem is that it smells like puke so I don’t bring it out too much…only in emergencies because that smell really lingers! Tell Fangette she can draw away now plus you can get another white couch!
Hopefully she is past the drawing on the couch stage.
you should see how good they clean a bathtub!!!
Oh, I forgot about the bathtub…I will definitely work time in for that tomorrow!
Can I have a magic eraser for parts of my life? 😉
Oh gosh, that would be the best…it would be the best $2.00 ever spent!
you are so much better than me, I just move the furniture around to cover marks up! (dont tell!) x
HA-HA!!! Love it!
We had one & I rubbed a hole through it.
You must have been getting out some serious aggression or else you had a TON of smudges to clean up!!! haha!!
Probably a bit of both.
I’m addicted to those things. Best invention to get off really horrible soap scum in the bathtub too. We actually have big dings in the walls from… something. I have no idea what the kids were doing. Unfortunately, no Magic Eraser will work on actual gouges. Bummer.
My sister just told me to use it on the bathtub too…I excited to do it tomorrow…probably the first time I’ve ever been excited to clean my bathtub!! Oh yes, we also have plenty of things that the kids have done that no magic eraser will ever get rid of!!!
I will definitely try this magic eraser. I have plenty of marked up walls that need to be cleaned. For now, my toddler’s drawings are part of my home decor. Love the picture of you and Cesar. You are one photogenic mama!
Thanks Anka! Does your son really draw on the walls and you leave them up? It actually would make for great fun! Maybe I should just let my kids go to it now that I know I can clean it up so easily!!
Yes, I’m afraid he has left a few drawings on his sister’s lavender bedroom walls. I was going to touch it up with paint, but now, I’ll just try the magic eraser.
Oh that sounds wonderful! I have never tried the magic eraser of which you speak. You can be sure I will look for it the next time I am at the store (which I imagine will be tomorrow.) I am kind of excited to clean now…
I got a couple of suggestions to use it on my bathtub so I did today! It worked great!!
oh yes….one of THE most important feel good cleaning tools for parents!!!
It truly is amazing! I wish I could give the inventor a big hug!!
Wow, that sounds pretty amazing! Fortunately for us (knock on wood) our girls have not had any terrible crayon/maker/paint mishaps. However, I’ve recently been finding tufts of stuffing all over the house and they recently admitted to unzipping our couch cushions, tearing open the liner, and pulling out the stuffing! Such trouble makers. 😛 BTW, that little suit is adorable!
Oh my goodness! That is hilarious! Kids think of the weirdest things to do! The suit is actually a mini tux that my nephew wore to my wedding 8 years ago. It was passed down to me and both my sons have wore it! It is soooo cute!
We don;t have that over here – sadly . That little angel doing something naughty….never 😉
I can’t believe they don’t have Magic Eraser in Australia! Maybe Australian children are just much better behaved than these American kids and aren’t drawing on their mom’s walls!
If you cut one up into good size pieces and throw them in your toilet, it keeps the bowl super clean!
Doesn’t it get flushed down right away or clog up the toilet?
No, they actually float until they dissolve. I found a thing on pinterest and tried it. Makes bathroom cleaning a breeze!
the magic eraser is FANTASTIC! (the only thing I have discovered is that if the crayon is on a wall that was painted with cheap paint – eg, most of the walls in our house as they were “newly” painted when we moved in so we didn’t repaint – it will also take off the paint and leave a nice smudge instead of the crayon). Counting the days until my little guy is no longer such a mess so that we can paint FOR REAL and start using the magic eraser on our pretty walls! haha!
Now that’s a goal to shoot for if I ever heard one! Good thing you told me though! I haven’t tried it yet on our new basement walls!
Well, you do claim motherhood is an art, so maybe toddlerhood is, too?! Funny story about the Magic Erasers: I use them to clean up after my husband. Worse than the kids 10x. 😉
Don’t even get me started on how dirty my husband is….I could have a whole other blog called beingawifeisanart!
You guys are so cute 🙂 I love the Mr. Clean’s Magic Eraser too! 🙂 for everything 🙂 btw, I’m one of those people that cleaning is a stress relief, don’t know why, but when I clean I feel better 😉 I know, I know, I’m weird 😉
I wish you lived closer…I would have plenty to keep you busy!
I must get the Magic Eraser! It sounds incredible! Recently, I watched the commercial that said there is a bathroom one – I may need that one, too. 🙂
It is truly amazing! I used mine on the bathtub yesterday and it worked wonders!!
magic eraser is my favorite household product (besides Lysol 🙂 ) and i am a lunatic with it!!!!
Oh yes, Lysol is my friend! No need to really clean….just spray Lysol everywhere!!! haha!!!