The Magic of Baby Wipes

So this whole crayon thing got me thinking on this topic the other day...You see, when she first colored on the wall I thought, "no big deal. I'll use baby wipes." I figured I had out-manuevered my toddler and wasn't worried one bit. The problem was, though, that my "magic eraser" didn't work! I couldn't believe it. The baby wipe didn't even SMUDGE the crayon. Now, some of you (especially non-parents) out there in cyber space might think I'm insane for thinking it would work or for even trying, but please allow me to explain to you the magic that is baby wipes.

In our house, we have a container of baby wipes in every room. This is no exaggeration, folks. Why have them in the kitchen? Well, in the kitchen, they can be used to clean spaghetti sauce off of a toddler, or better yet---off of said toddler's white shirt! They can also be used to wipe down the table quickly once mealtime is finished, especially since the toddler is bound to make a quick exit, and there is not enough time to bust out the antibacterial cleaner and paper towels, which are of course in a child-locked cabinet...And maybe while your little one is chowing down, you notice that your white board is looking a bit cluttered and could use a cleaning...Guess what you would use to clean it off...anyone? Baby wipes! Did you notice that white scuff mark on my black oven? No? Well, that's because my baby wipes took it off!

Moving on to the living room, the baby wipe possibilities are seemingly endless. Of course, combined with a portable changing pad, the living room is a great place to change a diaper...well, provided that you aren't entertaining company (non-parents who might be grossed out) of course, in which case you may want to move to a more "appropriate" venue. That's boring though. Say that you notice you have some water spotting on your off-white microfiber sofa (what idiot parent would ever buy an off-white microfiber sofa you might ask? ME)...When your steam-vac doesn't do the job and where Oxy Clean fails, the baby wipe prevails! And when your little one decides to sip on your orange soda and spills it all over your ivory carpeting (and what parent in her right mind would ever have IVORY carpeting? Well, I will never claim to be in my right mind, but yes, me again), don't despair! Grab a baby wipe! Are we getting the idea yet? Trust me, my dearest non-parent friends and followers, these babies can provide a benefit in your home as well. For example: drunken buddy spills Captain & Coke on your off-white microfiber sofa? It's no match for the baby wipe! Girls' night get a bit crazy? Red wine on your carpet? No problem! You see where I'm going with this?

I think the best baby wipe victory so far, though, has definitely been getting latex paint off the carpet. Yes, people, you read that right. Latex paint off ivory carpet. PURPLE latex paint, in fact. I was about to lose it when my hubby had an oopsie while we were so carefully painting our daughter's room. We had put a sheet down and everything, and when it came time to clean up that day, we moved the sheet only to find a HUGE blob of purple paint on the carpet. The blob was gone with a couple baby wipes and some elbow grease. UN-freakin-believable.

So with all of these victories, baby wipes have become my go-to item for any kind of mess on any surface. It only stands to reason that I would have expected the wipes to do the trick on the crayon...the WASHABLE crayon. But alas, this time baby wipes were defeated by Kleenex! Who knew?!

I've said this to my hubby a few times since the whole latex paint thing: "What is in these things anyway?!" But the truth is, I'm really not sure that I want to know...because if I find out, I'm afraid I might have to deem them unsafe for my kids' behinds. And then what?! So I have decided not to do any further research into the 'why' they work and to just consider it magic.


Til next time...