Tuesday, October 23, 2007

My house looks like a CSI scene

No, it's not because of the axe murders.

My 4-year-old twins were on a time-out in their room for fighting when Catherine got a massive nosebleed (possibly from a kick in the nose by Elisabeth, but that allegation remains unproven). I thought all the screaming was just them continuing their usual carrying on. Nope, it was Catherine smearing blood on every available surface and Elisabeth getting horrified by it. It was utter carnage in there.

Had to go get out the carpet cleaner.... and wash the walls.... and all their clothes.... and the bedspread.... and the sheets..... and the bathroom and hall walls and floor....

Fortunately Catherine also discovered the way to take blood stains out of her new Ariel the Mermaid shirt. Dumping an entire 100-ounce bottle of concentrated liquid laundry detergent in the washing machine will do the trick, never fear.



Update: The bloodstains are murder to get out of the beige carpet. I used the upholstery cleaner machine when they were fresh, but they were still quite evident. This morning I scrubbed with a brush and dish detergent. They're faded but still visible. I hear club soda might help, that's the next step. Then I give up and live with bloodstains on the carpet. What exactly do the criminals use on CSI to get this stuff out? Bleach?

13 comments:

Fe-lady said...

Holy mackerel! That's a lot of blood....you seem to have kept your cool though! Super mom!

Downhillnut said...

This would have been even more appropriate next week (Halloween).

You'll definitely want to avoid decorating with black lights now.

LBTEPA said...

Oh no!

Andra Sue said...

Dear god, woman. I DO NOT KNOW HOW YOU DEAL WITH ALL THIS STUFF! You must be a saint, for sure. ;)

m said...

I can't even top that one.

Brent Buckner said...

Some days not having dependents seems pretty OK....

Glad no permanent damage done!

Carrie said...

How do you do a timeout from a timeout?

Hydrogen Peroxide works best for blood stains...not that I've ever had a crime scene to clean or anything.

The Big Cheese said...

Have fun explaining those when you decide to sell the home.

Sixteen Chickens said...

My parents had twins when I was 12. Your posts of the girls bring back memories... of white-out on paneling and nailpolish on bathroom fixtures. Never saw blood everywhere but blue food coloring, yes. Projectile vomiting in unison is always fun. Misty watercolored memories...

ShesAlwaysWrite said...

Peroxide works like magic for getting out blood, although the fresher the stain the better. It's less than a buck for a giant bottle and works GREAT. I used to go through oodles of it when I was a vet tech. Just dump it on and let it foam, rinse and repeat until there's no more foaming.

UltraMamaC said...

heh, we've had a couple of nosebleed art projects in DinoBoy's room, but never intentionally -- usually we wake up to it all over the sheets. Careful with the peroxide -- it can continue to bleach the carpet after the stain is gone.

Nancy Toby said...

Thank you for the peroxide tips, everyone!! So far that seems to have done the trick! If the carpet got bleached a little, that's okay! Better than a huge red spot!! I might have to give a backup treatment today, we'll see...

Dawn - Pink Chick Tris said...

OMG Nancy, it was one thing to read about it, but to see the photos. Those ones are worth a thousand words. Yikes.