We only had it on Saturday, it was second-hand but after a good clean it was lovely.
I have just noticed a 5cm x 1cm hole in one of the seats. I know that you can get leather repair kits for car seats so does anyone know of one that is any good?
It is my sons 6th birthday next week and the party he was promised is now cancelled. There is no way this could have been an accidental snip! He normally well behaved, as well as any normal boy of his age at least. I am fuming and upset aaaghhhh.
Oh dear....he won't do that again in a hurry I should think............reminds me when my little un decided to draw all over his nicely painted bedroom wall.
:o :'(
oh Cocopos, the joys of parenthood. Im sure in time this is one of the things you will look back on and laugh at, I cant advise you about leather repair kits as i have no experience but good luck.
I remember my daughter spilling spaghetti bolognese on my brand new carpet, at the time i was furious but in fairness it was an accident.
heres a big hug for you, just remember they are not children very long, sadly
I feel for you.
But do think about whether the punishment is appropriate, after all it may affect his relationship with other children.
Oh dear, can understand that you're cross. My son, aged about 3 1/2 at the time, somehow got hold of some scissors into his bedroom and cut a hole in his duvet - to find out what was inside - and a hole in his bedroom curtain - so he could lie in bed and look at the moon. Logical when you think about it (to a small child anyway.) Do hope when you're feeling calmer your little boy's party can be restored, you say he's normally good and he's still only 5.
My little un cut some of her hair off when she was three, other half was none to pleased, the hairdresser had to come round and sort it out, and before you ask the scissors were out of her reach and they was plastic blunt ended ones.
You will calm down Coco, punish yes, but see if you could work it around the party. ;D ;D ;D
Oh no, poor you! You just give up trying to have nice things when you've got kids.
My eldest snipped my new curtains when she was 4 and both my girls have cut their own hair as I had metal kids scissors! One cut herself a sidey and the other just cut a random chunk from the top of her head!!
I know he does deserve a punishment but with 5 year olds it really needs to be immediate-he will struggle to understand why he isn't having a party and you will instantly feel bad that he didn't have one and then you'll have mum guilt as well as your snipped sofa!
As he is really 6 now I would talk to him and ask him if he would be pleased if you cut something of his (fav t-shirt or whatever). He will understand what you're saying.
Big hug for you and your ruined sofa!
Sharp objects and children don't mix. I remember when I was about seven, the morning of a school photograph, I decided to cut off one of my eyebrows. That was more years ago than I care to remember, and I can still hear my mother's voice :o :o :o :o :o >:( >:( >:( >:( >:(
I was a little boy like that once but I was always sticking my Mums knitting needles in the arms of the three piece, I think if we had a leather suite in our house when I was growing up in the 50's we would of eaten it, don't worry you will be laughing about it when he is eighteen, ;D
I have calmed down a bit now, done some research and think I can fix it. My husband, Noel, came home after a 9 hour day working in the outside and is not impressed. Luckily we are not an argumentative family, I grew up in one of those. He just works so hard for us to have a nice house and this has obviously upset him.
I have attached photos of the area that Noel has converted to the living room - my kitchen for 2+ years (without even a window), how it looked on Sunday evening with the 'new' sofa and the damage.
I am sure the Max will have some sort of get together with his friends, maybe not what he wanted but he does need some sort of nonphysical discipline.
I must admit, having heard all the other horror stories, yes it part of the joys of parenthood. Some of the stories are very immaginative on behalf of the children!
I don't know what sort of party you were planning but maybe now you could say something like he can have 2 friends round for a party tea as you have to spend all your money on fixing the sofa now and what a shame etc.
He will have a good time with his friends anyway but at least you will get to deliver the punishment of your choice. I dunno-such a shame-your beautiful living room-how long did you get to enjoy it before he did that?
Oh dear! as others have said.. the joys of parenthood. My daughter told me yesterday that my Great Granddaughter decided to help Daddy wash his car only trouble was that she didn't have a cloth so she decided to use a piece of slate. He now has quite a few scratches on the wing of his car. Chloe-Anne couldn't understand why Daddy was cross, well, she is only 2!!
Lorna, you have just reminded me of something I did as a 'grown-up'. I had a metallic blue car with loads of tar marks on it. I used my initiative and used a scouring pad to remove them, and cleaned the whole car while I was at it. The whole car went white, it took several bottles of t-cut and loads of elbow grease to sort it out. I hope the slate marks come out without too much hastle.
It also reminded me that about two years ago Grace and Max decided to tip the hot chocolate powder all over the floor, add water and make a skating puddle. That too ages to clean up but then the house was at the 'camping' stage.
Cocopops welcome to the world of rearing boys. I have 3 [now grownup] boys. If this is the worse he does you are lucky. Get over it. One could say where were you? I think delayed punishment is not good. He has no idea at his age that it was wrong. Responsibility starts at about 7 years.
cocopops don't think t-cut will work this time apparently the scratches are down to the metal. I expect my grandson (mechanic and sprayer) will come to Martyn's rescue.
Quote from: tomatoada on December 02, 2009, 19:05:13
Cocopops welcome to the world of rearing boys. I have 3 [now grownup] boys. If this is the worse he does you are lucky. Get over it. One could say where were you? I think delayed punishment is not good. He has no idea at his age that it was wrong. Responsibility starts at about 7 years.
No need to be unpleasant.She did not post for a lecture off you.
Oh dear, what a shame! You will naturally feel angry and upset. I wonder why he did it? Sometimes it's just an experiment- I'll bet he wishes he hadn't now! I think I'm with Emmy's idea for a very tiny birthday tea- I'm sure when you've calmed down you'll be able to remember the reasons you would want to celebrate him -it would help him to understand a little about the idea of consequences to our actionsas well as relieve your feelings of "mummy guilt"(love that expression!) As to what you could do- maybe a very large throw? Leather is a bit chilly to sit on anyway, and you might find cream to be a bit of a problem in other ways too (my friend's adult daughter stained their new cream sofa with her jeans, and it never came out- she uses throws!)
What you need to do is find some where underneath the sofa or one of the chairs where you can cut a piece off safely and will be unseen.
you need two bits one which will need to be bigger than the hole and one just slightly bigger, this one you place under the rip and then mark round the the edges of the rip onto it. Take it out and cut to size.
The bigger piece you you glue in (not super glue ) under the hole let it dry then glue the second piece into the whole
Unfortunately i cant think of the name of the glue you need at the moment NOT super glue
Copydex?
Are you sure the kid did it? If its a second hand sofa it may well have had a cut that was not immediately visible. Then someone sits on it and opens it up and rips it more.
Unless the child admits it or is making up obviously impossible excuses, I would not be so hasty in apportioning blame. You may have just bought a sofa with a hole in it.
he admitted he did it
The proper glue is H 66 Vinyl Cement but the one i was trying to think of was Evostick
Quote from: davyw1 on December 02, 2009, 20:35:07
The proper glue is H 66 Vinyl Cement but the one i was trying to think of was Evostick
That great, there is some spare leather underneath that I can use as a patch. It will not be as it was but hey-ho.
Quote from: Digeroo on December 02, 2009, 16:47:52
I feel for you.
But do think about whether the punishment is appropriate, after all it may affect his relationship with other children.
People started talking about punishment not being appropriate in the late 1980's and look how kids behave these days!!!
Hi cocopops, as a mum of 4 I can really understand where you are coming from, everyone needs a rant at some point!
The list of what my darlings have done as an experiment is rather long and I'm sure the list of what they will do in the future is even longer ::)
Only you can decide what is an appropriate course of action, I generally find that once the initial dismay has gone things don't seem so bad. 6 is a perfectly reasonable age to realise what he did was wrong and I'm sure that he will learn from it.
Glad that a remedy for the sofa has been found.... ;D
I washed the kitchen floor with a bottle of Chanel No5 when I was 5 according to my mum. (The only present my dad had ever bought her apparently) It was an anniversary present and the v expensive stoppered bottle.
She said she was sitting in the front room and I was pootling about the flat (above the pub my parents ran) and she said she caught a whiff at the same time she thought "Emma's quiet", ran to the kitchen and there I was, cloth in hand, giving the floor a polish.
Her words -"I wanted to throw you out of the window." ;D
Glad to hear the sofa is responding to treatment.
I wouldn't cancel his party. You'll calm down and get over it one way or another. Maybe stop his tv, pocket money or treats for a week or two, cancel it up to xmas as its only 3 weeks. He is only 6 once so don't miss out on celebrating his childhood.
Quote from: emmy1978 on December 02, 2009, 21:39:32
I washed the kitchen floor with a bottle of Chanel No5 when I was 5 according to my mum. (The only present my dad had ever bought her apparently) It was an anniversary present and the v expensive stoppered bottle.
She said she was sitting in the front room and I was pootling about the flat (above the pub my parents ran) and she said she caught a whiff at the same time she thought "Emma's quiet", ran to the kitchen and there I was, cloth in hand, giving the floor a polish.
Her words -"I wanted to throw you out of the window." ;D
Glad to hear the sofa is responding to treatment.
Back in the early 60's my uncle sent my mother a Chanel perfume collection, 6 or 7 small bottles in a presentation box, horrendously expensive back then. My sister made my mum's pillow smell nice for weeks with them.
The joys of children..I have 3 boys and 1 girl all grown up now but can remember one of the boys when he was about 3yrs finding a can of white paint in the garage and painting white lines all up the street just like the council workman he'd seen painting zig-zag lines next to the pedestrian crossing the previous day!
He was the same little darling who managed to climb up to the bathroom cabinet and get down the loo cleaner and wash his hair with it which turned his hair bright green!
djbrenton-yay-I'm glad to know I have a partner in crime!
ericelf-that's so funny-you've just reminded me of the time me and my two younger sisters painted the inside of the shed with my mum's paint for the living room! Mint green! Nice.
. and it all seems quite normal and reasonable when you're doing it. Until the parents come along and explode.
Oh? .... Really??? ;D :o :o :o
My daughter and her friend, painted a pink and green stripe down the cats back :o when they were about six ,it was paint i had left over from decorating the kitchen, my daughter is now grown up and she hides her face if anyone
says anything about it. :-[
Ah happy days.
June. ;D
Sorry honey i cant advise you on a fix but heres a hug to take the sting of the damage away :)
Funny my younger brother and I were only talking about the tricks he use to get up to heres just 2 :-
- A neighbor had a new black car turn up and my brother painted it white with emulsion paint as the neighbour had told him he would have prefered a white car when he was 6
- Another neighbor had a little girl who was spoilt rotten she was playing doctors and nurses with my brother he though she was not making a good enough patient and so he hit her with a 8lb hammer he was 5years old
so it could be worse :)
So sorry about your sofa, i hope the repair works well for you Cocopops.
My Grandson when he was about the same age drew a lovely road & scenery all over a large space of a newly decorated wall :o :o, Daughter rushed to buy a small tin of emulsion before Grandad, came home!!. Phew!!! ;D ;D ;D
Cocopops hope you are all feeling better about it today. I know you can get it professionally repaired my friend had hers done and you wouldn't know it had been damaged,
June loved the cat story I can just imagine the poor cat ;D
Cam did your brother turn out okay? LOL
Snip
I was wondering if a cobblers type place could do a repair?
Other than that this thread has made me giggle out loud at the stories - a nice unintentional bonus eh ;D
When my son was younger 6+ and did something he should not have done I would not punish him if he owned up and admitted what he had done and did not lie. I would thank him for telling the truth, he is an only child so I knew it was him anyway but did not enlighten him about that- if it was something that needed cleaning up or sorting out I would get hime to help sort it out so he did have to contribute to sorting the problem out.
I was fortunate I do not remember him doing anything really drastic. However his 15 now and I sometimes acuse him of doing something as there is not a brother or sister who have done it and then have my husband call out that it was him.
How annoying, but if you get another lump of leather, you will be able to fix the next hole before it even happens.
(http://www.contrabass.co.uk/images/accessories/central_straps/leather-coiled.jpg)
TAXI.
Hi Cocopops- hope you're feeling a bit better today!
Bottoms... ACE beat me to my line.......
We had an unintentional hole repaired on a leather sofa years ago, it was pretty much invisible unless you knew where to look..
chrisc
It's not only kids. I was building a custom motorcycle and I needed some nice red leather to cover the seat. Reasoning that the sofa that was leather and was also the right colour was always placed with the back to the wall, if I cut the back out nobody would notice. WRONG. No sooner had I cut it out she decides to have a change around, (why do they do this) and the dastardly deed was uncovered. I was going to get it fixed proper like when I could afford it with a nice bit of material stitched in its place, but never got the chance. Blimey I never heard anybody go off on one like she did. Birthdays for me have never happened since. She also nearly killed me with a joint of beef when the chrome oven shelf morphed itself into a luggage rack for the back of the bike.
I am feeling much better today. I have almost lost my voice so I could not even shout properly. It was the real disappointment, more than anger that got to me. Like my huband said "cannot we even have something for nice for a few days before it gets wrecked!". I have been talking (or rather croaking) with a lady today who has told be where to find a leather repairer so I will give them a call. I only paid 70 Euro for the sofa and matching two seater so I would hate to pay more than that on a repair.
As for the party, Max hasnot mentioned it at all. When he does I will explain that I am not prepared to hold his 'ideal' party but he can have a couple of friends for a birthday tea. Thanks for that idea folks.
That's again for making me feel better, it really did help. I know there is a few issues going on in the site at the moment but gardening or not it is a lovely community to be part of and long may in continue.
Quote from: snipsnip on December 03, 2009, 00:30:10
Cam did your brother turn out okay? LOL
Snip
Yes he turned out fine and his 2 boys are much less shall we say accident prone honestly he put my parents though the wringer everything from throwing him self down the stairs, managed to rip his bottom lip off when he feel, to causing mayham with any thing he could get his hands on.
Funniest one was at 5 decided to make boiled eggs by popping them in the kettle (shells and all) and then gave up on the idea did not tell anyone. Mum went to make a cup of tea in fact she used the kettle on and off all day with the egg smell and funny tasting tea getting weirder all day and my brother did not say word 1 i was in bed so dont remember whem mum found out what had caused the problem i only remember we went from a kettle on the gas hob to an electric kettle after that :)
Quote from: ACE on December 03, 2009, 17:52:52
It's not only kids. I was building a custom motorcycle and I needed some nice red leather to cover the seat. Reasoning that the sofa that was leather and was also the right colour was always placed with the back to the wall, if I cut the back out nobody would notice. WRONG. No sooner had I cut it out she decides to have a change around, (why do they do this) and the dastardly deed was uncovered. I was going to get it fixed proper like when I could afford it with a nice bit of material stitched in its place, but never got the chance. Blimey I never heard anybody go off on one like she did. Birthdays for me have never happened since. She also nearly killed me with a joint of beef when the chrome oven shelf morphed itself into a luggage rack for the back of the bike.
....thanks ace so funny
Not sure if you have solved the problem yet. The sofa not the child ;) Try www.MastaPlasta.com. I had a hole in my sofa and called around to get prices from leather repair shops. Most of the quotes where more than the price of my sofa. Started looking for leather repair kits and found this company, they sells leather patches in different sizes, shapes and colours. I am very happy with it. good luck
Fortunately when my eldest son decided to draw numbers all over the sofa with felt pens, I was able to turn the cushions over. ;D
When he drew on the other side ::) I experimented and washed one cover in the washing machine (cold), air drying it after. Came out nice and clean.
I was lucky, I feel your pain ;)
Our sofa isn't leather... but has been cut. Think this happened when son was about 5. There are also biro marks...
MIL was told not to get a new carpet until her son reached a certain age - she did not listen and he threw up all over it.
re-loo cleaner and green hair - going way back, Eastenders episode - Michelle working in the hairdressers turned Cindy's hair green...
Hi, I am wondering if you can explain a compromise , allow him to have the smaller party because he owned up and told the truth, without being honest he would have lost all, maybe some good can come out of it then, he certainly deserves a pat on the back for being truthful which in the end will be valuable for him as he gets older, it is hard to be honest when you are little and in trouble, he is a good kid for having the courage.
When I was little I had a pedal car, it was green and I wanted a red one.I found a tin of red paint in the garage where my little car was so I painted it..of course I had a wet brush and some paint left and I was a kid!! My Dad did not appreciate that his new car looked better after I finished on his. Funny thing ,I could not understand what the fuss was about, in my eyes I had not done anything wrong, I was making things better.
I was severely tested when my little boy put his hamster in with his older brothers ferret as he thought it was lonely..need I say more.
Take care, these things fade in our mind, and I think you have a good kid there.
XX Jeannine
Fill the hole in the sofa with compost and plant potatos or tomatoes, might be an idea.
LOL is that what they get up to in Jersey then....... ;D
Quote from: Reg on January 30, 2010, 22:39:14
Fill the hole in the sofa with compost and plant potatos or tomatoes, might be an idea.
Hey Reg, that's a classic first post! Welcome to A4A!
found more info for you about that patch company. they have an article about it www.mastaplasta.com/repair-your-leather-sofa-not-sure-where-to-start/
Welcome Mandy and Reg... :)