A couple weeks ago we were visiting my mother in
law with our children. Jackson, who is 2 and a half, was by himself in the TV
room watching a movie. I decided to check on him because he had been
pretty quiet. As soon as I walked in the room I saw him standing with his
nose inches from the television screen. Immediately I realized that he had
black marker all over his face. I gasped as I looked to the screen and saw that
there were black scribbles across the entire thing. My eyes went to his hands, which
were clutching a black permanent
marker. My heart dropped to my stomach. I had to think fast. Was the marker
dry? Yes. Damn. What the heck am I supposed to do next? I wanted to scream!!
I turned off the television. I then sat him on
the couch and let him know that what he did was wrong. All the while in the
back of my mind I was worried about how the heck to get the marker off and
knowing that if we couldn't remove the marker we would have to figure out how
to get money to buy a new TV. What was my mother in law going to do/say? I had
to fix this, and fast!
I went to go tell my husband what had happened.
Meanwhile Jackson was crying on the couch because I had taken the marker away
and turned off his Cat in the Hat movie.
After I let my husband in on what happened I ran
to the computer. There I went to my secret weapon, Google!! I typed in the
search bar, "How to get permanent marker off of a flat screen TV".
From the results I could tell that I wasn't the first, nor will I be the last
to have their child color a flat screen television with permanent marker. Those
who had been in the same predicament before me where advising different
solutions. Some of those were
toothpaste, drawing on the screen with a dry eraser marker and then erasing it,
black coffee, and non-acetone nail polish remover.
My biggest fear was ruining the television
further by putting any of the above listed things on the screen. Which one
should I chose? I saw the worst possible scenarios being played out in my
head for each option. If we use toothpaste what happens if it gets sticky and
won't come off? Then I will have to Google how to get toothpaste off of a flat
screen TV. Forget the toothpaste.
I ended up choosing the non-acetone nail polish
remover. I decided to let my husband be the one to test it. After all, he
helped me make Jackson; why not take some responsibility in the messes made?
Also, it was his mother's television; she wasn't going to kill her youngest
right?
I asked my husband to please just try a small
section out first, in case my worst fears came true and the nail polish remover
burnt a hole in the screen. He didn't take my advice. When he figured out that
the nail polish remover worked, he quickly cleaned the entire screen. I ran to
get a damp cloth and wiped where he had cleaned. (Just in case it took awhile
to burn through the screen, I wasn't taking any chances!)
Thankfully, we were able to save the television
screen and there was no long-term damage. I learned a few things from this
event. One, and most importantly is that acetone free nail polish remover takes
permanent marker off of flat screen TVs. Two is to keep a better eye out for
things that could become objects of destruction when in a toddlers hands. Three
is that the Cat in the Hat might not be the best movie to watch at Grandma’s
house!
What is the worst thing your child has done while at someone else's house?
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