Partners in Crime

This story does not have any pictures because I was too furious at the time to take any!

Abbie and Carter are little partners in crime.  They are definitely not equal partners, however.  Carter is the little delinquent and Abbie is the cleaner who covers up his messes!

The other afternoon I was in our room feeding Elisabeth her afternoon bottle.  It was nice and quiet in our room while the kids played upstairs, or so I thought.  Halfway through the feeding Abbie and Carter started popping in and out of the room.  Carter would come in for a bit and leave, then Abbie would come in.  Finally, Abbie came in and said that Carter had a marker in his room.  I asked her where he was using the marker, and she assured me it was on paper.  When he scampered in, I asked him if he was only using the marker on paper and he said ‘yes’.  Then they both suddenly ran away, talking quietly and scheming about something just outside the door.  I knew that was not good!

After going upstairs for a few minutes, Abbie came back in the room to tell me that Carter had written all over his room in blue marker.  I raced upstairs to see the damage.  Carter had taken a blue Sharpie and written on his walls, bookcase, window sill, closet door, baseball hat, etc.  It was all over the room!  There are no words to describe how I was feeling at that moment.  I was furious and not thinking with a level head and immediately told him I was taking his beloved Puppy stuffed animal away.  He started screaming and asking how he would sleep without Puppy, etc.  I immediately felt horrible but was too busy trying to get the marker off with a Magic Eraser.  While I was busy trying to clean up, Abbie found Puppy and hid him under her bed.  I could see her telling Carter something and trying to comfort him.  I guess she was telling him she had saved Puppy!  When I asked her where Puppy was, she didn’t want to tell me.  Finally she relented and gave him to me and then she too started crying because Carter was so upset.  Part of me was upset with her for trying to undermine me, but honestly I was more proud of her for trying to help her brother.  Eventually the Magic Eraser took most of the marker off, along with the glossy finish.  I guess dull paint is better than blue Sharpie!  I gave puppy back to Carter and everyone was happy again.

Once everything had calmed down, Abbie told me she had tried to clean the marker up first by herself.  First she tried a baby wipe and then a wet tissue.  I guess when neither of those worked she decided she finally had to tell me.  I think it is incredibly sweet that she tried to do that for her brother so he wouldn’t get in trouble.  While I do not like the fact that the two of them gang up on me, I can’t help but be so proud of them for loving each other so much and wanting to help and protect one another.

Carter has since been banned from markers.  A few days later he wore Abbie’s tap shoes and tap danced on her nice nightstand, but that is a story for another time!