t...r...o...u...b...l...e...

Madeline was coloring at the kitchen table the other day and we needed to start getting dressed for the day, so I asked her to bring her book and markers to the family room to color for a couple minutes. I went into the bedroom, right around the corner, and quickly changed into some jeans. Then I heard her say, "uh oh, dropped the book." So I came out to pick her book back up for her and this is what I saw: I was not happy as she knows we only color on paper. She has drawn on her hands a few times here and there and occasionally a little on her legs, but she always goes to time out for it and she hasn't done it in quite a while, so I was blown away to see this. She's been a bit of a stinker recently, so I guess I wasn't all too surprised she colored on herself...but I couldn't believe HOW MUCH she had colored on herself and how fast! I was reluctant to take pictures because I didn't want her to think it was OK...but I couldn't resist. This HAS to be documented! At first she could tell I was very upset, but when I started taking a couple pictures, she started laughing:

Normally, I would have her go sit in time out, but I didn't want her touching ANYTHING except the bathtub. You can't tell in the picture above, but she had it all over her legs, feet and hands too. We went straight up to the tub, leaving red hand prints along the way. Surprisingly, the marker came up perfectly from the furniture and walls, but as you can see....it doesn't wash from the skin as well as you would think:

That was a post-bath picture. She's crying because she's sad that "mommy's sad, mommy's not happy." She was also crying because Mommy wouldn't turn the TV on for her.

We had a talk about it and Daddy talked to her again when he got home, and "mommy was happy." We went down to the playground to cheer everyone up.