More Complex Than It Should Have Been

[billroper]

I had planned to take Katie to the pool today along with her Uncle Sam in and around building a new bookcase in the basement. But Sam had a great many things to do, so we decided that I'd take Katie to the pool later if there was time.

There wasn't.

Things mostly moved on some sort of reasonable schedule, modulo the moment when the twine started cutting through the piece of quarter-inch oak plywood lashed to the top of Sam's van. But since Katie decided to try to make scrambled eggs while Sam and I were gone, things at the house had not gone entirely according to plan. She hadn't succeeded in lighting the burner, but she had gotten eggs and butter out of the refrigerator, found a frying pan, put it on the stove, cracked eggs into it, and tried to light the burner.

Mostly what she did was turn on the gas. Which Gretchen, who was upstairs, eventually smelled. She came downstairs, turned off the gas, turned off the air conditioning, opened all the doors and windows, turned on the fans, and evacuated to the back patio with the two girls. I'm not sure at what point the pan full of eggs spilled onto the floor, but that just added to the general joy of the occasion.

Gretchen called just before we got home. When I ascertained that everything was more or less fine, I went out to the garage with Sam to cut boards and the oak plywood to the appropriate sizes. By the time that was done, Sam was exhausted and went home. It was five o'clock and really too late to take Katie to the pool, so I took her upstairs to play her Arthur video game (thereby getting her out of the way) while Gretchen cleaned up the mess.

I'd hoped to get somewhat further on this project. On the other hand, there's nothing that I can't actually do by myself at this point.

Which is good. :)

Comments

[madfilkentist]

Mostly what she did was turn on the gas. Which Gretchen, who was upstairs, eventually smelled. She came downstairs, turned off the gas, turned off the air conditioning, opened all the doors and windows, turned on the fans, and evacuated to the back patio with the two girls.

That reminds me of the time when Carl jumped off the stove and turned on the gas without lighting it. I taped the gas knobs after that.

But touching any electrical switches when the house is full of gas is a seriously bad plan. The first thing after turning off the gas should have been to open the doors and windows, and the second to get out for a while.

[msminlr.livejournal.com]

Sounds like time for the "No you can NOT cook on the stove until you are tall enough to see over the rim of the skillet without standing on anything" speech.

[pheltzer.livejournal.com]

We threw these on the stove as soon as Alex started walking... http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2304651

Surprisingly they work as a better deterrent than we expected. He's never even tried to figure out how they work.

[kestrels-nest.livejournal.com]

Eep! Sounds like you've got an independently minded little girl there. She's not going to ask Mommy to make her eggs; she's going to do it all by herself!

[judifilksign.livejournal.com]

Wow. I tell you, they say eggs can lead to a heart attack. I might've had one if I had walked in on one of my kiddos doing that!

Good for Gretchen for keeping a cool head and making everything safe.

[purpleranger.livejournal.com]

Sounds as though the refrigerator needs to be Katie-proofed. Of course, by the time it's safe to let her near the refrigerator without supervision, it will need to turn into Julie-proofing.

assertive, independent children

[weirdsister.livejournal.com]

Katy sounds like a force to be reckoned with! Carly was like that. OMG...I could not turn my back on her for ONE MINUTE, or she'd be flushing washcloths down the toilet, putting peanut butter sandwiches in the VCR, or teaching the cat how to fly from the second story window. AGGGGGHHHHH! But she's a great teenager, so I guess it all evens out! lol