Mom Shares Messy Details of Toddler's Marker Meltdown & Facebook Came to the Rescue

Maressa Brown

Parents of toddlers know that if they can expect anything, it's pretty much all things unexpected. That's one lesson learned by Zoe Vayanos, a mom from Sydney, Australia and the franchisee manager for Ladies Running Errands (a family-friendly transportation company that boasts correctly-installed child car seats). Vayanos recently took to Facebook to discuss the sense of helplessness she felt when she noticed her daughter had scribbled all over herself, her bedroom walls, and her bed.

Zoe Vayanos doesn't often share family photos with strangers, according to news outlet 10 Daily. But this incident compelled the mom to reach out for support.

"So my 2-year-old got busy when she was meant to be going to sleep tonight. Send help mums," she wrote in her post on the Inner West Mums Facebook group, which has almost 24K members.

The Sydney mom told 10 Daily, "I had just been congratulating myself that my daughter went to bed so quietly and quickly and then when I saw it I thought, 'Oh no, this is a parenting fail!'"

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The toddler had gotten ahold of the markers and decided to "express herself" after her older sibling left them out.

Despite the fact that Facebook is known as such a hotbed of judgment and mom-shaming Facebook, Vayanos had a very positive experience when she shared what had happened with her L.O. Other moms commiserated, offered clean-up solutions, and even shared photos of their own kids' messes.

"[After posting] I couldn't get mad, the one thing that comforted me last night was just how funny and uplifting the comments were," Vayanos told the news outlet. "Nothing was about discipline or questioning why she had access to [markers], it just totally turned things around."

The mom of two also tried various cleaning products and household items to tackle the mess. "I tried gumption, Jif, Koh, paint thinner, sugar soap, hair pray but nothing worked," she said. Her 7-year-old, who felt guilty for leaving her markers out, joined in on the effort as well, even going so far as to say she would donate her savings to a new mattress.

In the end, Vayanos said the family will likely have to repaint the wall. At least as she takes on the daunting project, she can feel assured that other moms have her back.