I have a sordid relationship with paint. It runs in my family, really. My brother Pat once kicked a bucket of paint down the stairs whilst “helping” my sister-in-law, Jane. He was quickly relieved of his duties. We later suspected that was part of his master plan.
My paint relationship started shortly after we moved into our new house. I was eight months pregnant and we flew in Jamie’s sister Tammy (an interior designer) to help piece it all together. We anticipated she would hang a few pictures here, put our furniture there, etc. Before we knew it, we were engulfed in a full-on Extreme Makeover, with paint, scaffolding and a general disaster area on our hands.
Because I was pregnant, I was relegated to food prep. Tammy and my mother-in-law were busy painting our dining room as I busied myself in the kitchen. Upon completion, I grabbed their plates, turned the corner, called out “Lunch is ready…” and then BAM, I kicked something. Hard. Before I could react, the bucket of paint flew in the air, landing on our brand-new golden carpet. The bucket of deep, deep, deep red paint. In my defense, I couldn’t even see my feet, let alone the dumb paint can!
It took 10 rolls of paper towels and an extractor to get rid of it. Today, that conspicuous spot sports a lovely rose tint; a blazing reminder that I can never chastise my children if they spill on the carpet.
That said, I have been taping off our room (in my sickly state, I might add) in preparation for tomorrow’s paint-fest. Then Jamie, my loving, sensitive and devoted husband made the following announcement:
“Now, this is not directed at anyone. But I would like to issue a decree that there will be no spilling of red paint on tan carpet tomorrow.”
Don’t be surprised if, after a comment like that, he’ll be the next one to kick the bucket….
I'm a Canadian-born mom of two, former Denver Post columnist, family travel writer, editor of MileHighMamas.com and 9News contributor. Expert on all things Utah, Denver, family and travel. Lover of laughter and life. Happily married to a man obsessed with growing The Great Pumpkin. 