A grandmother is a mother who has a second chance

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

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!

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I remember this! Or I remember Jenni telling this story.

Other things we stuck in microwaves... flies, a bee, a water-skimmer from our pool. Nice.
No, I did not become a mass murderer.

I have so many memories flooding my brain right now... surgery on a caterpillar, the lice in the bird's nest, salt on a snail... Mrs Rangle!

Sandi said...

Were all these in MY microwave!!! Yikes! Sometimes it's good to not know what your kids are doing...

Anonymous said...

I am so sad I am going to miss you in Tucson!!!
Joedy too : (
not... not all in your microwave. some in my mom & dad's. what they don't know won't hurt them.

but fyi... a bee or fly alone will cause sparks to fly.

Wendy said...

That is a great story! I will be keeping the list in mind too because I think I am about to start hearing some of it out of my child's mouth.


I will also be keeping him away from the microwave ESPECIALLY after reading your comments!

Happy 4th!!

Jenni said...

Kathy forgot to mention the ants. They pop section by section when you microwave them.

tunia said...

eewwww.....! yukh! I never tried microwaving any living creature!
Love your pool of stories though! :)
I love baking in my old fashioned oven! Suits me better!
I just remembered,I once turned it on and the bugs hiding in it did get roasted!! *evil grin* :)

PS: Do check in on my trackbacks to your thoughts.(on my blog)

Halfmexican Mama said...

OMG..my kids havent tried anything like that YET...theyre still little...LOVE the blog name! And I also Love JUDY Garland, you should see my background on myspace..its www.myspace.com/jilliancrimson ..I also collect Wizard of Oz paraphenilia..stop by and visit sometime!

Halfmexican Mama said...

btw..I added you to my blogroll...my grandma used to wear a babushka!! i think its a sign!

tunia said...

where'd you vanish???? Miss reading your entries!!
take care
hope everything's fine.

Arlene said...

Have I mentioned yet how much I love your stories??
Hilarious! I would never think to cook an egg in the microwave anyway!