Kids and cleaning products were made for each other. As were kids and candy, kids and puppies, kids and padlocks, kids and boarding schools.... *ahem* sorry, I got carried away. But seriously, what would one do without the other? My kids, as I'm sure yours are too, are capable of the most fantastic messes my imagination couldn't hope to compete with. The Cat in the Hat's got nothing on them. I always say crumbs seep out of their pores and they can destroy an entire room (that it took me 3 hours to make sparkle) in 3 minutes flat.
One of the most common things I come across in my daily cleaning is spots. Spots on the couch, spots on the carpet, spots on laundry. Some of those spots take more of the shape of intentional marker scribbles, but who's counting? So, I arm myself with cleaning products (non-toxic of course) and go to work removing spots from every surface. Another day, another load of laundry full of stains and spots. Lucky for me I have this Shaklee stuff called Nature Bright to remove the evidence of 'having a good time', as my mom always says. Without Nature Bright, a lot more stuff would go in the Goodwill pile because of stains. I am secure in the knowledge that there is not a spot I can't conquer with Nature Bright. I absolutely will not use chlorine bleach or any other stain removers (or cleaners, detergents, soaps, etc.) that will maim, directly or indirectly kill you, irritate the heck out of your skin, cause an asthma attack, or at the very least make your eyes water. I believe that last statement covers probably 95% of the stuff that is sold in grocery stores. Anyway...
As I mentioned in another post, my 9 year old son is involved in Taekwondo. This past weekend there was a tournament two states away from us, which involved about six hours of driving, an overnight stay with relatives and a 55 MPH ice rink commonly known as I-294.
The boy has participated in quite a few tournaments before, and never really had a case of 'the nerves'. That is MY job, and I do it well. So, what happened this past Saturday probably can't be explained away as nervousness. This was a smaller tournament than the last one and he felt very prepared for the events he participated in, even excited to compete in one particular event for the first time.
As we turn onto the street of the high school where the tournament took place, I hear a meek little 'Mom, I don't feel so good' from the back seat. I swear it was slow motion...I turn around in my seat while simultaneously asking 'Are you going to barf?' and grabbing the nearest plastic bag. I got it in his hands not a second too soon. Thinking it may have been nervousness, we sat in the car a few extra minutes for him to chill out (and see whether there would be a repeat), then headed inside. He seemed ok, if a little wigged out, and was even able to laugh about it a little. He managed to get through his first two events, even placing 2nd in one of them, before it was time to toss the cookies again. Thank goodness for extra large garbage cans on wheels.
His next two events were a couple hours away, so we bundled him up with our coats and he chilled out in a corner with a Sprite and some crackers to wait. One or two more trips to the garbage can and he seemed to really perk up, like whatever it was might have been out of his system. With the help of another TKD mom, we got him to agree to participate in one more event, which he did, and then we headed back to our relatives house an hour or so away. We hadn't quite turned into their subdivision when I heard the distinct sound of liquid hitting the bottom of a bag. A paper bag. That leaked. All over the seat and the stark white pants of his TKD leadership uniform, which ran us a cool $150. The poor kid had to strip in the car and hang around pants-less while I ran in the house to collect all our junk and bring him new clothes. Another hour or so car ride later and we're home in time for him to lose it again, this time into the kitchen garbage can.
The barfed-on TKD uniform pants came out of the wash sparkling clean and restored to their original bright white...or so I thought until I investigated the inside of the pants, and found the evidence that this really was a flu bug, and not a case of the nerves. But hey, what did I say about conquering stains? That's right. I'm not afraid. Already through the washer and dryer usually means an item is doomed, but not at my house!! And this is one stain there can't be ANY evidence left of, EVER. Nature Bright to the rescue once again.
So bring it on, life! Hit me with whatever stains you've got, I'll conquer them all - blood, sweat and tears...and vomit - and do it safely with non-toxic products. But really, I can wait quite a while before being put to the test again. At least until AFTER the next taekwondo tournament. And please, no blood!!
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