so as I approached my house last night, my wife met me about half a block down the road along with my two year old son. She placed him inside the car in the front seat so he could ride with me into the garage... As i turn into my driveway, I notice a couple of bicycles blocking my entrance. I get out of the car and remove the bicycles from my way. There, inside the garage, was my daughter. So since I was out of the car I took a couple of minutes to say hello to her. When I went back to the car, my heart stopped. :wow:

I remember thinking very clearly "don't take it out on the kid... don't take it out on the kid..." while i was saying in almost inaudible words "no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no..."

I had to yank the PERMANENT BLACK SANFORD SHARPIE MARKER from his little hand. I gently got him out of the car and then poked my head inside to asses the damage...

long black lines most about 4" some about 7", doodles, a face?, no, he is too young to draw a face... it hurt so much... the whole parchment armrest covered in two year old maestro art strokes... AAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHH he also doodled on the right side bolster of the drivers seat.

the damage has been tended to and on the most part repaired. I am recuperating pretty good now. In fact most of the marks are gone and now the leather has been conditioned...

I am banning sharpies from my life.

 

You handled it well man. Family always comes before property.

 

kinda funny in hindsight (considering it wasn't me). You handled it like a true dad and should be proud. I probably would have cried!

 

THink of it as an interior mod from ur beloved son.

 

Everytime I think of having kids, I get free birth control stories...
<just kidding>

My friend has a brand new, waste of money Lincoln Navigator and her kid has thrown up three times in the back seat since Christmas...Reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where no matter how much you clean, get new carpet, etc, the smell won't leave! I can't even ride in her car it stinks so bad!

 

lol...

two things to put everything into perspective:

a) this is just the beginning
b) If he becomes a famous artist, I'll have an amusing story to tell the grandchildren...

 

Oh man, that would have called for a whoopin'!!!
J/k, they get to that age where they have to try out everything they touch (I am dreading that age). I would have cried like a little bish if I was in your shoes.

I'm suprised most of the marks were able to be removed?!?!

 

I once was the proud owner of a new 1986 Mercury Sable wagon (that proud owner feeling lasted about three years when the car started to self-destruct, but that's another whole story).
My then-3 year old son always watched me hand-wash my wagon, and once he decided to try it himself. He took an old rag with a combination of oil and sand on it from my garage, and "washed it" going completely around my car. It left scratches in the clear coat paint and I fought off my desire to wring his neck. I'm glad, as he has turned out to be a good human being

 

TL-S Man that reminds me of what a cousin of mine did to his dad's car. While watching his dad wash his car my younger cousin about 7 decided to help by picking up a large stone and started to wax the car with it.

 

All I have to say is... Where did your son get the marker from -- and what was he doing with it in your car?? Looks like you're gonna have to start friskin' your kid before locking him into his car seat!

Glad you were able to fix your "other" baby.

V.

 

...DOH! DOH! DOH!

Never feel good using other's misery... but what happened to some of you (and family, like <B>silfa718</B>) sucks BIG TIME.
I feel very bad for you guys n gals with little helpers... when they want to help, of course...

 

I thought it was cute that these little buggers were trying to help daddy out! Too bad they used the wrong "tools" to do the job!

 

I felt like I got stabbed once- when I was stabbed.

Anyway, my daughter wrote inside ours a few weeks ago with a BIC ballpoint. My wife tried every leather cleaner (and several other things) we had in the garage, but it wouldn't come out. We gave up and called a guy that does seat re-dying.

Fast forward ten days, and the ink is gone. It has faded away to nothing. Only one mark is even slightly visible, and it will likely fade in a few more days.

I wonder if BIC uses a photo-reactive ink that fades naturally in the sun?

 

Ii would have been livid not with the little guy but with myself. Not only do you need to childproof the house but also the car as well.

Trade the markers in for dry erase ones. Also try hairspray or even Avon Skin so Soft. I use that stuff for everything except its intended use - skin. I accidently got a CD-r blue marker on my front pass. seat and it cleaned out nice with the skin so soft

 

So that was the painful feeling when some punk kid jabbed his utility knife in my thigh........

uhh anyway a similar thing happened in my TL. only it was my DAD, he was absentmindedly playing with a pen while driving. forgetting it was UNCAPPED. He left a few lines on the door panel. What a dork. haha

 

That shorty story is older than the internet itself.

 

My neighbour did all sorts of work on cars and trucks for a living. He had a nice Mercedes (I think an older 500 of some sort). Anyway, his 3 year old son found a hammer in the garage and proceeded to bash in the headlights on the front of the car. When he was caught and asked what he was doing he replied he was, "just fixing the car like daddy does". I think he got in a bit of trouble for that one...

 

oh god i dont know if i would have been so "cool" with my kid... i wouldent yell or nothin, i would probably just take the sharpie and write all over HIM