Banana Boat or Bust!

Well, it was bound to happen...whenever something new comes into the house, it must endure a ritual that none are too good to escape. Whether it is the cat laying on it, in it, or under it.....or Randi spilling it, folding it, playing with it or marking it up...everything must pay its' dues....no exceptions....


I was hoping my brand new living room furniture would change the tides though...that it would escape the trials of our households' curiosities and make it for a good long while without incident...a month maybe? a year? Is that too much to ask? Apparently it is....because this is a month of firsts....and not all great ones....and in less than a month, our brand new leather sofa has gone from new and shiny, to just another markable surface for the Little Brat to make her sharpie masterpiece....it's not like we worried about this type of incident happening....LB has never drawn on anything she was not meant to draw on in the past...but like I said, this is a month of firsts with her....and I am starting to have anxiety attacks at what else she could possibly have in store for us!


Here's how it went down last night....LB and I were kicked back on the leather loveseat watching a scary movie...she LOVES scary movies, just like her Mommy....all was great until I peered over at her Daddy on the nearby sofa and caught, out of the corner of my eye, what appeared to be dark lines on the leather beneath my head.....as the reality of what those lines were most likely made from sunk in, I gasped the biggest, saddest, most gut wrenching gasp I have ever mustered...Until that moment, I don't believe anything has caused me such a sudden startle...not the scariest movie I have ever seen has even caused me such a reaction! JR thought I was being attacked by a bizilion killer bees! I jumped up from the sofa and turned on the light....and to my utter dismay, she did it....she had dug thru my crap (craft) table and found the markers....ALL the pretty colors! And proceeded in painting a landscape of lines and ziggles all over the leather....I promptly inserted my thumb into my mouth, curled up in the fetal position on the floor, and rocked back and forth until the funny farm people came to get me....JR, in the face of such a traumatic event, actually took control of the situation and removed all but a small amount of the marker with a leather cleaning wipe....Thank God for that, cuz I was too busy throwing an overgrown toddler tantrum about it all, and could not see past my alligator tears to be of much use....meanwhile, Jr also put LB in bed, so as not to cause her great emotional injury over seeing her mother playing 'a raving, irrational lunatic'...Of course I have a feeling he will have no problem TELLING her about it when she gets older....he's a nice guy, but not THAT nice.....Trying to find my inner peace ....I know it's in there somewhere....



Now we still have those faded marker lines on the couch to get rid of...and I have recovered from my anxiety attack overnight, so I actually did a little research this morning and found this great info on removing marker stains from leather couches! Banana Boat is more than a sunscreen, it is now my best friend, counselor and anti-anxiety drug...I am stopping by the store tonight to stock up and see how it does on our leather...hoping for the best!

UPDATE: Lordsy Mercy, it's a miracle! I tried a small spot of the Banana Boat Sport Spray on an inconspicuous part of my leather loveseat and, lo and behold, the remaining marker stains came off without even scrubbing! My leather did not fade, the finish does not seem to be dulled, and the sunscreen left behind a pleasant aroma of sun, surf and sand....*inhale* ahhhhhhhhhhh. Hmmmm, I wonder if it will also help clean tough spots off my leather tack?!!?!

Happy Trails,

Leah