Kids: they're the apple of any mother's eye - but occasionally, some parents might need reminding of the fact.
Case in point, when they redecorate your hallway walls with red melted wax leaving the place looking like a "murder scene", as was the fate of poor mum Emma Smith.
Oh dear, oh dear.
Emma, 30, had been cooking dinner for her three children - Angel Smith, 10, Angus Lees, four, and one-year-old Archie Lees - when she grew suspicious of her youngest, Archie, playing so quietly in the next room.
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When she entered she found the cheeky tot had swiped one of his big sister's makeup brushes, dipped it into the wax burner and smeared the bright red wax all over the cream hallway.
Not content with annihilating the walls alone, little Archie had flung dollops of the wax on to the carpet too.
When she poked her head round the door to discover the trail of destruction, the toddler simply flashed an unrepenting big grin.
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Emma, from Fettercairn, Aberdeenshire, said: "They say silence is golden but not when Archie is around.
"He's a feral child, I thought my middle child was bad but my youngest has topped that.
"It looked like a murder scene, I came running out of the kitchen and said 'oh my god what have you done?' and he just stood and laughed with a makeup brush in his hand.
"Even now when I ask him 'why have you painted mummy's hall?', he just smirks and laughs."
Emma, a barmaid, was preparing the kids tea at around 4pm while her farmer fiancé Stuart Lees, 31, was out working.
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"I was in the midst of cooking tea, Stuart was out working as it's harvest time and the children were all just doing their thing," she said.
"It was peaceful and there was no arguing or fighting so they were just left to their own devices.
"Angel and Angus were in Angel's room playing and Archie was supposed to be at the bottom of the hall where his bedroom is playing with his farm animals.
"I couldn't see Archie from the kitchen and thought he was just playing quietly."
She continued: "I just popped my head out of the kitchen door because it was so peaceful and that's when I noticed the colour on the wall.
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"I didn't know whether it was pen or he'd got hold of Angel's makeup to start with, I didn't for one second think it would be my Scentsy wax melts.
"Angel and Angus came running out of Angel's bedroom and she said 'oh my god mum what's he done?
"When I said 'he's painted the hall with wax' Angel's words were 'Archie you'd better come with me I think mum's going to kill you'
"The fact he used her makeup brush to do it broke her heart, there are more makeup brushes on order now."
Luckily, Archie had used wax from a plug-in burner meaning Archie wasn't at risk of burning himself.
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"I have the plug-in burners everywhere, but the one he used was in the hallway," said the mum-of-three.
"Angel ushered Archie away while steam was coming out of my ears.
"I had to go back to the kitchen, turn off the food I was cooking and then had to get it off the wall.
"I had to wait until the wax had dried then spent 45 minutes using a hairdryer to re-melt it and a cloth to scrub it off my wall.
"It formed thick clumps in the carpet but I managed to lift it out."
Emma says despite the wax incident, mischievous Archie is one of a kind.
"Archie is very free-spirited and is always up to no good," she said.
"We live on a farm and have a small fence between our house and next door and he has a habit of digging underneath the fence, like a dog would do, to escape into next door's garden.
"Archie's also escaped into the fields, got behind the shed and also dug up flowers.
"Our dog Jock just toddles on behind him, he's definitely one-of-a-kind, wherever Archie is Jock's not far behind, they're best of friends.
"He's that kid that if it was someone else's you'd laugh about it but when it's your own you can't.
"I thought Angus was the worst because he used to get up to no good as a toddler but he's very couthy [sociable] now, while Angel's always got her head in a book."
As Archie turns two next month, Emma says she's dreading what's to come.
Emma said: "It's probably the worst thing he's done to date, but I imagine there's more to come.
"We're heading toward 'terrible twos' territory and I'm dreading it, Archie is full of surprises he definitely keeps me on my toes."
Featured Image Credit: Kennedy News and Media