Smartbaby learns all things brown are not chocolate

A lesson learned the hard way today- when I was out of the studio/playroom room for 5 minutes- smartbaby snatched a tube of my brown acrylic paint (luckily he picked one of smart son's student grade paints-- less deep pigments)- flipped open the cap- proceeded to eat it some quantity-Yes, I had to answer that I didn't know if it was a "fingerful" or "handful" to the poison control lady (because if I was watching him I wouldn't have let him consume any- duh!)whom might I add always talks to you in a tone that assumes you are a grossly negligent parent. No this is not my first experience calling poison control, I have called them when smart son ingested a dryer sheet- they referred me to the manufacturer as they had no specs on the contents of snuggle- Snuggle in turn rewarded me for my negligence by sending me me a free box of fabric softener??? (he only ate one, not the whole box). Then there was that other time when smart son sucked down jewelry cleaner from the toothbrush I use to keep my diamonds every so sparkly- but my feelings on poison control- are you if ever in doubt call!! The number is 1-800-222-1222)
okay back to the story- after ingesting some unknown quantity, he smears it on his clothes and finger paints it on a 2 square foot patch of the office white carpet (his smart older brother is about 7 feet away playing and oblivious to the entire mishap)- I arrive upon the scene with shock and horror. Immediately, Stripped smart baby in the sink and ordered smart son to "boil water and get some towels" --wait no one is having a baby change that order to just water- unboiled and paper towels. As an artist who paints in a an off white carpeted studio I have become a master at paint removal (for any who experience this calamity- the secret is flood and blot- don't rub)- usually though it is when I clumsily drop a brush and leave a dime size mark-- but sheer panic and thousands of dollars were flashing through my mind when I happened upon the tragic scene this evening- sadly my first thought was take a pic for the blog (but I could also see smart daddy-o taking away my paint priviledges if I permanently ruined the carpet)- So I set immediately to the task at hand.
Sadly, smart baby's cute romper didn't not survive- the injuries it sustained were to massive. The carpet appears to have made a full recovery thanks to 2 bowls of water and 3/4 a roll of VIVA (the only great paper towel- don't get me started on it's virtues).

And I am overjoyed to report that smart daddy-o is finally returning from his week south of the border on business and my week of "EXTREME SOLO PARENTING" is coming to a close