beaten by a ballpoint pen

I like to think of myself as fairly proficient when it comes to the duties of homemaking. I can cook meals from scratch, I know the proper method of folding a fitted sheet, and typically, I can remove just about any stain that I encounter... until now. Recently, our new chair was tragically marked by a ballpoint pen. The sound of that might conjure up imagery of a certain little boy deviously coloring on his daddy's new favorite spot, but in fact, it was an accident and with the amount of sketching Alden does in an average day, it was bound to happen.

Apparently, Patrick had told me that he saw the marks one evening, and though I'm sure I acknowledged his remarks, they seem to have not stuck in my brain. The next morning I was surprised when I walked by the footstool and saw two 3" pen marks along with several smaller spots. Not to worry, I thought to myself, I've read more than a few stain-removal guides in Martha. I grabbed a bottle of rubbing alcohol and got to work. The black pen quickly changed from dark purplish black to royal blue. It was working! But after several more minutes of scrubbing, the marks were still bright royal blue. I had several other products that I thought might work, and after all, I had never really been beaten by a stain on anything important before, so I still wasn't really that worried.


I worked on the pen marks for two more days. Folex, hair spray, fingernail polish remover, Magic Eraser, toothpaste, and Simple Green all failed me. Though I didn't give up without a fight, I realized there was nothing I could do about those stubborn marks. They had won and I had lost, it was as simple as that. But what was more was that I had been humbled by a tiny ballpoint pen. I was faced with my pride as a homemaker and wife, and I realized that my "I can do anything" attitude was absolutely delusional. No one—except me—expects that I can be Super Woman. It probably sounds silly that a simple thing like a stain could send me into deep self-evaluation, but sometimes it's through those unexpected moments that our hearts are revealed.