The Mr. Clean Magic Eraser Doesn't Get Out Permanent Marker

I've learned the hard way that the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser doesn't take permanent marker off the wall. Black permanent marker. That's right, its all over my kitchen wall. Okay, to be fair, the Target brand Mr. Clean Magic Eraser won't get out black permanent marker. Perhaps the name brand version will.

It will take off the strawberries, milk, Fig Newtons, juice, and mashed potato streaks that cover the wall by the high chair, but permanent marker is just a little too...well...permanent. Oh, its faded, but it will take a paint job to completely hide any evidence of my negligence as a mother. You know the negligence that happens when you are checking email, maybe MySpace, and you have some vague notion that you don't know where your toddler is. But you think...just another email and then I'll get focused. You hear a drawer slam shut and think...at least I don't hear any crying. Its only when you hear some scraping on the wall and the word "color" that you go running. As fast as you can, but still a little too slow because by the time you get there you have a permanent masterpiece on the wall. And a very proud little artist. So proud in fact, that its hard not to leave the art on the wall, its hard not to give hugs and kisses for the effort. But still, it is a wall and it is a permanent marker. So the big lesson in this house is that coloring belongs on paper. But I certainly took a picture of the more abstract art that graced our house this week. That is before putting a little art on it of my own...in a matte khaki.