stripping wallpaper, that is! We have a very small master bath in our house- just a vanity, toilet, and shower stall. It suits our needs fine for now, although there are times I wish for a large garden tub!

The previous owners papered this bathroom (sidenote- I despise wallpaper pretty generally, but especially in a bathroom) with a pattern that wasn't something I would have chosen, but certainly something I could live with. And they also did a very good job of hanging the paper itself. The seams were even, and the pattern matched up in all the right places. I told myself when we moved in that I would leave it alone unless necessity called for removal. Well, she called. And loudly. In the form of mold- entire colonies of it.

So a couple of Saturdays ago, I was cleaning the bathroom and decided to "test" a spot to see if the paper would come off. Actually, I don't remove paper in the traditional way with scorers and fancy brand name wallpaper taker-offers. I just peel off the top print layer, then fill a generic spray bottle with water as hot as I can stand it. Next, I spray down one section at a time. Within minutes whole sections come off, sometimes with the help of a little nylon scraper. Anyway, to my delight, the top layer came off beautifully, and I got a bit carried away. I stripped the whole wall. Then Sophia came in and gave me a look that said, "Wait till Dad sees this!!" I hurried to invite her to join me. She was perfect for the job. Her tiny fingers were able to get into crevices mine couldn't. She was quickly hooked!

We continued to strip for an hour or so, and she turned to me and said, "I like us being teamwork, Mom. It makes us feel like we love each other more." Now, she may not have used correct grammar or descriptive phrases to convey her meaning, but my heart sure got the message!

Labels: daughter, home improvement