What do Hairspray and Toothpaste have in common?

If you have children, have ever watched children, or have even been around children, you know they have an innate ability to find mischief of any kind, especially if you have your back turned. Whether it's exploring how the world around them works, or a complete act of disobedience, the end result is the same. Kids are kids and if you have anything of value, or anything you would be upset to have destroyed...put it away for 18 years ;) And if you forget, thank you God for the Internet. 

Our oldest son decided when he was about the same age our younger son is now (2) that our computer monitor was a great place to practice his artwork...with a Sharpie. Imagine my husband's horror when he went upstairs to see what he was doing only to find his brand new, VERY expensive monitor covered in beautiful artwork. 

My husband, after having a mini panic session and trying not to get too mad since it was his fault to leave sharpies within reach of toddler hands, asked me to look up possible remedies on the Internet. Apparently TOOTHPASTE removes Sharpie if it's on a computer monitor. 

For those that want to know:

Put a drop of toothpaste over the sharpie on the monitor. Use a soft rag to softly rub it in one direction until it comes off. Gently wipe as much of the excess toothpaste off as you can. Use a screen cleaner to get the remaining toothpaste off. Voila. 

Fast forward two years and our younger son is now 2. He always gets to bring something special in to nap time to play with for a few minutes in his crib. One of us will go in after 5 or 10 minutes if he's still playing and take whatever it is away until after nap time. Usually he just goes to sleep clutching it or throws it out on his own because he loves binkie and nap time so much. However, yesterday was different. He wanted to finish writing his shopping list so he was allowed to bring his pen and notepad in to his crib to do so...

Who could get mad at this cute little face?

 It's amazing how much ink can get everywhere in 10 minutes. We're talking everywhere. E.V.E.R.Y.W.H.E.R.E.  So, we went to the internet. Apparently Hairspray works at getting ink stains out of clothes. I ran to the grocery store by our house last night because I certainly don't have any hair spray and was shocked (understatement) to find that a little bottle this size was SEVEN dollars?!?!?!

However, it worked at getting the ink out of my favorite sweatshirt of his and his quilt. It also worked at getting it out of 3/4 of the pants...in order to get the rest out I'll have to fork over more money for hairspray because I went through that little bottle. I should have paid the $12 to get the bigger size. Ugh. Trying to decide if it's worth it since I could just buy more pants for that price.

For those that want to know:
Spray hairspray on the ink stain. Let sit for 1 minute. Blot with a rag. Spray with stain remover. Throw in the wash. Don't dry until the stain is out. It might take several repetitions. 


What I want to know is who thinks of these things? I mean seriously. Who would have thought to themselves "I wonder if toothpaste will take off this permanent marker from my computer screen?" And to answer the original question; What do Hairspray and Toothpaste have in common? Two year olds.

Readers: What interesting things have you discovered as a result of your children, or yourself ;)