Tip #16 - A house cleaning tidbit

Offending bran bit

I would LOVE to take a poll of mothers of young children and find out how many of them know how hard it is to get a Cheerio off of any surface after it has soaked in milk and dried there.  It honestly is cemented there and I think NASA could take some kind of lesson from the epoxy it forms to the counter.  In a non-scientific poll I have done on my own in mentioning this dilemma I received the following responses.  "I can't believe you admit to leaving it (the Cheerio) there that long" and "My kids don't eat cold cereal".  I guess I am not a normal mom, so here is what abnormal looks like.  Kids get cold cereal in the morning - anything I can dispense from a box as fast as humanly possible.  Anything spilled gets my attention after kids are away, fight is broken up, my bed is made, fight is broken up, laundry is started, dishwasher is loaded, fight is broken up, and shower is taken.  Often is the time that I meet the arriving school bus (bringing my underfed darlings home) in my PJs.  So needless to say I didn't get to the wipe it up part.  So now what.  How do you get the darn thing up?  You may be tempted to use a knife or other sharp implement, think chisel.  Do not do this!  Not because it may ruin your counter.  Not because you have no idea where to find or if your husband even has a chisel.  But because your children will see you do this and then there will be no end to the things they will attempt to chisel/knife.  Lay a wet rag over the offending oat chunk and in a bit (like maybe a few hours) it will wipe right up.  I will not tell you how long it took me to figure out this little tidbit, but again, I'm the abnormal mom.