Now before you come in the house.......

My brother-in-law was over for dinner the other night and for some reason we were talking about things you should NOT put in a microwave. And, of course, it reminded me of a story about my kids.

There are several phrases a mother doesn't want to hear as they are almost always followed by a less-than-pleasant revelation:

• Someone from school might be calling you tonight
• Mom, I'm so sorry but.....
• Did you have a good day at work today?
• Remember that [fill in] that you had?
• Quick, where's the mop?
• How do you use a plunger?
• Whatever you do, don't go in my room.
• Did you hear from the neighbor today?

But one of my favorites was "Now before you come in the house, promise you won't get mad." Spoken by my brother one evening when he was babysitting the kids. The minute he heard my key in the lock, he opened the door and uttered those words.

I went in, kids were both sitting on the couch looking a bit sheepish, and, justifiably, a little afraid. My eyes swept across the room and there, on the kitchen counter, was a pile of some strange metal stuff. As I moved closer, I thought, "Why, that looks like the inside of the microwave." And so it was.

Turns out the little darlings decided to cook an egg in our fairly new microwave. I mean, they had seen "someone else" do it once and it worked fine. The part they missed was when that "someone else" poked a hole in the shell so the dang thing wouldn't explode!

Although, in my microwave the egg didn't exactly explode. Rather, the pressure built up to such a pitch that the inside of the microwave imploded! Yup, the sides, top, and a bunch of little screws simply got sucked out. Hence the mess on the counter.

Luckily for them, the motor didn't burn out. The repairman said he hadn't seen that happen before - it was a first for both of us. Took the kids awhile to work off the cost of the repairs, but I doubt that either of them have tried to cook an egg in a microwave again. At least, if they have, it wasn't in MY microwave!