to be sitting here crying over spilled paint?

[CheerfulYank]

So. A bit of background. My parents took very good care of DB and me when we were quite young. When I was eight we moved about a thousand miles away from our extended family and my mother began what, twenty years later, I recognize as a depressive episode. She didn't really care what we looked like, what kind of clothes we wore, if our hair was neat, if our home and our bedrooms were tidy. Also my brother has had mental health and addiction issues from about the age of 14 on, so attention was otherwise diverted. For many years family relations were a bit shaky but for the most part are much better now.

Anyway. Now that I have DS I wouldn't say I'm overly obsessed with appearances or anything (in fact it's only recently that I've learned how to tidy up properly) but I do like his things to be nice because mine never were as a child. His clothes are almost totally second hand but very nice, etc. Anyway I've been painting and decorating his room this week. Something I'd ordered (a wall decal with his name on it) came today and we put it up. I was still working on painting the trim in his room so the paint was still in there. I should have moved it, I know. I told him not to play in there (his toys were out of his room in a little play area on the landing) and usually, even though he's not quite four, he's good about things like that. I didn't even think to check on him when he went up to play for about ten minutes; I called up a couple of times but didn't go up.

DH was due home (DS was downstairs eating supper at this point) and I went up to check and make sure his bed was still made and looking nice so we could show DH the room and wall decal. I walked up and saw that DS had spilled about three quarters of the gallon of white paint all over his carpet.

I just started to cry. I know that's stupid and it's my fault anyway for not moving the paint or making sure the lid was tighter at the very least, but...I don't know.

Anyway, I can't believe I've written such a long entry about this and I know I'm being stupid. :( Tell me I'm BU and I'll get on with it. :)

[JaneFonda]

YANBU, I can understand why it would be so upsetting when you're trying your hardest to make the room nice for DS.

YWBU if you were to get angry at DS for it - accidents do happen, and no one is to blame.

Is there any way to clean the carpet? Would it be possible to buy a new one? I know they are expensive though.

Try not to worry too much, I'm sure everything will be fine, and in the grand scheme of life, you should consider yourself lucky that you're crying over spilt paint and not something worse. :)

[Monty27]

OMG YANBU

Anyone would have been upset especially when you were feeling so proud. But yes, I'm afraid it's one of those things. Is it a good excuse to get new carpet at you're decorating?

You sound like a lovely lovely mum and should be very proud of yourself indeed. Honestly, these things are sent to try us. It'll all be ok. :)

[Esian]

Yanbu - what a shitty thing to happen

Have you cleared it up yet? If it's water-based you should be able to blot it up then clean it with soap and water.

Otherwise a lovely new rug is in order - B&Q do those big road map rugs which I'm sure your DS would love. Or else keep the fading stain there for years to laugh about with your DS

[elmofan]

Aww lovely Yanbu.

Try not to dwell on this, it was an accident and no ones fault.
Could you just be overtired? you have beeing doing so much lately
?

[CheerfulYank]

Thanks everyone...you've made the tears start again just by being nice to me PMT I think

I called my mother about it actually and she said that my dad had spilled a bit of paint on their rug a few years ago and ammonia took it up? I'll try that.

If all else fails I'll get a nice rug to cover it. We can't afford new carpet; at some point we'll be ripping it up anyway though. There's lovely hardwood under there somewhere.

I'm feeling much more "ah, that's life" now, thanks so much for listening! :)

[mathanxiety]

Maybe take up the carpet? That much paint would be hard to remove entirely and the pile would be a bit crusty. Does your budget allow for parquet or some other floor covering? Even 12 inch tiles are nice if the room is heated. I had to remove carpet when it became clear the DCs had dust mite allergies, and then they all got a horrific tummy bug and puked all over the nice rug I put down and nothing would remove the stains (spaghetti bolognese).

YANBU to be so upset.

[CheerfulYank]

Thanks Elmo ! I'll take the whole bottle if you don't mind. :)

[mathanxiety]

I have removed smaller amounts of white paint from a rug, using a dessert spoon and scraping like crazy, with partial success, but I caught the paint before it had time to settle into the rug.

[CheerfulYank]

Thank you math . I think I'll scrub up as much as I can and then just get a rug to go over it until we take it up. We're refinishing the hardwood downstairs right now and it will probably be awhile before we get to the bedrooms. Sigh...oh well. Like Jane said I'm lucky that's all I've got to be upset about. :) And I didn't get angry with DS of course but I did tell him he had to be more careful. He got upset when he saw me tear up but I told him that I'd fix it and I wasn't angry. He and DH are at t-ball practice now so I'm going to keep scrubbing and have a cup of tea.

[elmofan]

No probs, ill crack open the salt & vinegar crisps
if u like .

[mathanxiety]

Original hardwood is very cleanable, if you could manage to unearth it, sand it off and refinish it.

[IveAhorseOutside]

I had saved hard and just got a lovely cream (I know) carpet for my bedroom (last room to be done natch), sat down with a glass of red wine to admire it when the fitters left, child came in, jumped on me and the wine spread about 2 square metres.

I never did get the stain out.

The rage passes, promise.

[mathanxiety]

Ahhh T-ball, that brings me back.

[startail]

If it's emulsion scoop and scrap up as much as you, then scrub with lots of water as long as its wet it's will shift. Once it's dry it won't. DD2 had a tin of emulsion helpfully poured all over the carpet in her doorway by DD1 (she didn't mean to she was just fiddling as usual).
A rug would have been too much of a trip hazard and in fact the last traces of paint wore away quite quickly with everyone going in and out.
Sending you happy decorating vibes because both my DDs want to change their rooms and I'm running out of excuses not to do some painting myself.

[elmofan]

Not sure if this will be of any use but i've done a quick
search on google and found this site
www.rugrag.com/stain-removal paints.aspx

might get some tips.

[catsmother]

Some home insurance policies cover accidents like this. Otherwise, try your local Freecycle group ...... there are often carpets advertised on my group, sometimes room sized remnants which are brand new.

[startail]

Yes, your insurance might cover it. A friend got her dinning room carpet replaced when a log jumped out of the fire and made a horrible scorched patch.

[startail]

Yes, your insurance might cover it. A friend got her dinning room carpet replaced when a log jumped out of the fire and made a horrible scorched patch.

[startail]

Sorry mumsnet being very slow.