My Son the Pyro

Today when I was making dinner, there was an unfortunate accident. Dinner was going and didn't need my complete attention for a few minutes so I thought I would fold a load of laundry. That was mistake number one. Be weary of multi-tasking when cooking.

Mistake number two. Believe that your sick husband who is laying on the couch dying, but has a really good view of your youngest child playing near stove, is watching said youngest child.

Mistake number three. Walk into bedroom to put the folded clothes away.

I was only gone maybe one minute. But that was enough. I immediately smelled something burning. I checked everything that was cooking but it was all fine. Something made me check the oven even though it wasn't on. Low and behold, Dominic left a gift in the oven.


An oven mitt!

I grabbed tongs and threw it in the sink and ran cold water on it. Then I threw it outside in the snow. Too late. The damage was already done. The house filled with smoke and I inhaled the vapors coming off the burned mitt. It burned my throat. All is well though. We just had to open windows and run fans during a snow storm.

You may ask how an oven mitt ended up on fire in an oven that was off. Well that was mistake number four. I had just washed it, and it was part of the laundry I was putting away. I didn't see Dominic sneak up and grab it. He then proceeded to the oven. The oven was off but the broiler was on (Thankfully the safety lock still works on it). So the oven wasn't hot, but the bottom of it was. Dominic yanked the oven open and Paul told him no. He immediately closed it leaving behind his gift that Paul never saw.

Don't worry though. Whenever the oven is on I do not walk away. A baby gate doen't stop him, it just draws more attention to it. We have tried several oven locks, but none of them seem to work. We have a REALLY old stove, so most of them won't even fit on it. The side one we found took Dominic about two minutes to pull off. So if anyone knows of a good side oven lock, please let me know. It has gotten to the point where I won't be able to use my oven anymore!