I don't think this happens to everyone....

This is one of those stories that led us to believe we were not dealing with your average 2 1/2 year old.

It's 11:00 at night.  The house is quiet...we are dozing....and I hear something downstairs.  Mother's intuition and our 100 lb German Shepherd told me all was ok, but to go check it out.

As I was coming down the stairs I could tell every light in the downstairs was turned on and I could hear Blues Clues blaring from our TV...I looked into my office and saw no less than seven open permanent markers on the floor.  This is not going to be good.


I headed to the family room and couldn't believe my sleepy eyes.  My 2 1/2 year old was standing at the coffee table cleaning it off with all of the appropriate cleaning supplies, eating a BAG of mini-marshmellows, had colored her legs solid black and red and was watching Blues Clues (Noggin ~ what pre-schooler really needs to be watching TV at that hour?).

To get the cleaning supplies she had to move a chair to the laundry room and climb onto our front-loading washing machine to get to the upper cabinets.  Thank goodness for a house full of non-toxic cleaners.  The marshmallows were acquired by moving the same chair to another cabinet and crawling up the shelves to the top level....leaving red finger prints all the way.

I was horrified, shocked and at that moment I was not the LEAST bit amused.  I yelled "Lulu what are you doing" and she announced "I'm cleaning and having a snack".  "Lulu, you need to get back to your room and go to bed".  Little miss no fear looked at me and said "Why don't you just go back to bed?"

She was furious with me for interrupting her. She wasn't afraid of the dark and clearly saw no boundaries.  She had even negotiated two remote controls to get it to her show.  In my head I couldn't help but fast-forward a few years.  What are we about to face?  Only time would tell.

Let's just say we have purchased a ton of locks over the past two years and have learned which ones she can pic :)