The Old Spice of life

You know the old saying, when the cat's away the mice will play? Well, it turns out that Abby makes a great mouse. While I was in Little Rock with my grandmother, Matt was SuperDad. (His word, not mine). He did a great job, and on Friday night he took a well-deserved break and went with his dad to the baseball game. Our babysitter came over to watch the kids, and brought her 5 year old sister--we'll call her Louise to protect her innocence. (Well, I don't know if innocence is the right word--she was as responsible for the misdeed as Abby).

Abby and Louise were playing in Abby's room. They came across a gift bag from Christmas that still had a couple of things in it (do NOT judge--it's been a busy few months for us!) At the bottom of the bag, they found two spray cans of Old Spice Red Zone body spray.

I know that when you read that, your mind immediately went to how bad this could be, like when someone tells you their toddler got a hold of a Sharpie marker and took it into the newly painted kitchen, or that a birthday cake had been left in reach of a large dog. Let me tell you, your insticts are right.

The girls apparently thought at first that the cans were shaving cream. When they discovered that wasn't the case, I guess they just figured it was an all-purpose cleaner. They emptied the two cans in Abby's room--it was sprayed on the furniture, on her toys, in her closet, on the walls, into the carpet, EVERYWHERE. And I guess this particular all-purpose cleaner also doubles as body wash, because they covered themselves with it too. Matt said when he came through the front door, he immediately started choking.

It's now 7 days later. Most of the house has been fumigated, but Abby's room is still a no-breathe zone. I doubt it will ever go away completely. I try not to think about the implications of this. How will we eventually sell a house that has an Old Spice room? Will Abby suffer any physical problems from sleeping in a haze of body spray every night? After a while, will she think she's a manly ship captain? Oy. I guess it could have been worse--she could have found a can of Stetson or something.