I'm an indulgent grandparent so I'm going to ignore this. ;)

Throw a two and a half year old in the mix and you can be sure that damage will be done. We found crayon on the walls last night after our barbecue - the first ever in 4 and a half years, so I guess we ought to be grateful.

Desolv-it (sort of like Goo Gone) takes crayon off walls quite easily. I hear the Mr. Clean sponges work well too, but we haven't had any crayon writing on the walls since I discovered those.

Roberta, stick to washable markers. The kids will have more fun and the furniture will be a little less colorful.

Oh man...do I hear you! Other bad combinations, from our own personal experience with our kidlets:

(1) Crayons in the pocket of pants that have been dried in the dryer

(2) A bottle of brown craft paint and carpet

(3) Red lipstick on walls (and the new white linen napkins used by the child to clean up said lipstick)

(4) A dried pinto bean and a nostril

(5) A red M&M and a nostril

(6) Poopie diapers and a very "artistic" toddler

(7) Vaseline and hair

(8) A hamster in it's rolling ball and stairs (those balls don't bounce..ugh)

(9) Kittens and dresser drawers

(10)Scissors. Scissors and hair...always a bad combination.

Had almost forgotten the experience until our son decided to take art both semesters of his senior year in high school.

The worst is my husband leaving pens in his pockets. It happens about every three years. Big blue blotches over everything in the wash.