Boy, today is great! Nice and sunny, warm, just beautiful.

The greatest thing about today, though, is how early it started, 4am folks.  I’m being modest when I say today started at 4am; last night kind of morphed into today in a cruel way.

Parents, you all know those nights when your little one never really falls into a deep sleep?  Last night was one of those nights for us; my little one seems to be having issues with allergies (not surprising considering her genes).  She woke up at midnight complaining about her throat hurting.  We gave her some medicine hoping it would help with the pain and she would be able to get back to sleep.  Nope. She couldn’t fall asleep. Back and forth from our room to her room, wired, all night.  We decided to call it good around 4am (I thought it was 5am because my phone was apparently registering an hour ahead after the update it did last night).  She was begging for a popsicle; she loves popsicles when she’s not feeling well, that’s her go to comfort food…. I know, I know, mother of the year right here.  She had her strawberry fruit bar and we laid on the couch watching tv.  All of a sudden, she sits up and says “I need something, mama, I need something” and before I could figure out what she needed, strawberry popsicle came back for its second appearance, all over us and the couch.  Awesome.

Here’s where I tell you how we’ve managed to have a white couch and a small child in the same house without too much headache.

We have the ikea ektorp sofa with the white slipcover.  In 5 years, I’ve had two slipcovers total, and for $50 a pop, I think that’s pretty affordable!  I ruined the first one before we had any pets or kids in the house.  I shrunk it in the dryer, there was really no going back from that mistake.  My current one is doing much better, I don’t follow the washing instructions, though (which say wash in hot water and no bleach). I actually wash them in cold water, heavily soiled setting, and chlorine bleach, any major spots (like strawberry popsicle) get pre treated with Shout advanced action gel.  I put them on air dry for about 30 minutes and put them back on while they are very damp.  They take less than 12 hrs to dry completely.

I love the look of a while couch, but I also love the fact that it’s no big deal if we spill red wine on the cushions. If you have kids, I highly recommend this couch.  It’s extremely affordable, very versatile, and comfort is satisfactory.  I would love a super comfy, expensive couch someday, but I’m not brave enough to venture into those waters yet.