Oh, the love of markers!

I thought Kate Gosselin was mean for not allowing her children to have markers. Even her oldest two kids who were like 7 or 8 at the time weren't allowed to have them in the house . . . geez! I know they're messy and easier to stain than crayons, but there's just something about coloring with marker that feels so darn good.

I've never been one to stifle my children's creativity. For being as OCD as I am when it comes to other things, I've always let them have markers, Playdough, watercolor, paints, Moon Sand - you name it. That's part of being a kid!

That was before my dear third child was old enough to discover markers. I don't know exactly how or when it happened. I'm sure it was one day when I was watching soap operas and eating bon-bons. (What are bon-bons, anyway?) Since then, it's been a constant source of amusement in our home. Yes, I said amusement. I think it's funny when Izzy colors herself with marker from head to toe. Hey, sometimes you've gotta laugh, or you'll cry.

To help tame her marker obsession, I bought her some of those Crayola Color Wonder Markers for Christmas. The kind that only writes on special paper. She hated them. As soon as she realized she couldn't color on herself, she got pissed and that was the end of that.

So last night as I'm cleaning up from dinner and the kids were playing in the basement, I hear Brayden yell, "Mom, you better come see Izzy!". That's never a good sign. Expecting her to have gotten into something, most likely a marker, I wasn't too concerned. It doesn't take a whole lot to faze me these days. Then I see this . . .

If you look closely, you'll see that she even colored her teeth. After Bryan gave her a bath and a good scrubbing, her face is still stained blue. While he was attempting to wash the marker off, I gave Brayden and Jena each a gallon sized ziplog bag and had them search the entire house from top to bottom and collect any marker they came across. When they were finished, I put the bags of markers on a top shelf in a cabinet where I knew they would be safe. And do you know, after getting her bath and clean pj's on, that little stinker, STILL managed to find one in a drawer the kids forgot to check.