Friday, April 6, 2012

F is for Fire

One day when my littlest was one, my husband put a tiny container of baby food in the microwave, the new plastic kind that has a foil seal across the top.  He didn't notice a tiny bit of foil was on the container.  And he walked away.

My daughter happened by, announced the problem, and we turned it off and had a fire extinguisher on hand in plenty of time.  The fire put itself out - only the pureed squash was at risk.

After that, every day for about a year, my youngest wanted to hear the story about the day his dad caught the microwave on fire.  Every day the story got bigger and included fire trucks and fire men that came with hoses.  Eventually, the story changed - it was my son who saved us from the fire. 

I can still see the look on my husband's face as we held in our laughter over our little one refusing to let the story go, refusing to forget that his dad made a mistake.

I do have several more fire and fire truck stories, which I will share another day - none of them involved any real damage, just little reminders we should be more careful.

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Thanks again to the hosts at http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/ for hosting this month-long event.

33 comments:

  1. I can't tell you how many times my daughters have a caused a fire in our microwave over a bag of pop corn. They always push the wrong buttons.

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  2. My son used to have a hard time believing I could make a mistake when he was younger. I told him I make them on purpose sometimes, to make people think I'm just like they are. But secretly, I didn't make mistakes.

    Which made it really hard to explain when I forgot to pick him up from ball practice or something later. 'All part of the plan,' I'd say. Then go get him ice cream.

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    1. That's sweet. Great save with the ice cream.

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  3. I've never caught the microwave on fire - yet.

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  4. I can definitely relate to this story since I have a 5 year old boy and a 4 year girl. Plenty of restless time around here...lol. Stopping by as part of the A - Z thing for a quick visit. Looks like it will be fun catching up on the reading around here.

    Charlie
    http://semiretiredgamer.blogspot.com

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  5. I think that foil lining was a terrible invention. You know how many people have done just what your hubs did? I imagine plenty!

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    1. It's not that easy to scrape it off the container. I think the lesson learned was not to walk away. :)

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  6. And the tiny mistake becomes the stuff of legends. Here, among the people I know, the microwave is basically used as a reheating device...most Indian style cooking is microwave incompatible, so much work, special crockery needed that a traditional oven along with a cooking range makes more sense.

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  7. Ha! What a great memory for a kid. Not so much for the adults.

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  8. Made me smile. I recently had my own little fire scare. Candles burning against glass is not a good idea! Especially when home alone, without a car. :)

    Konstanz Silverbow
    nothoughts2small.blogspot.com
    A to Z Co-host
    www.a-to-zchallenge.com

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    1. I think it's easy to set a fire with a candle. I usually put them in big holders like odd-shaped flower vases where they can't really tip over.

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  9. Okay, I have a microwave story. If you leave popcorn in the microwave too long it will start burning and make a horrible stench. Didn't actually see flames but the popcorn bad was quite crispy!
    Giggle, Laugh, Cry

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    1. That happened repeatedly where I used to work. The smell is terrible. I think you can't trust the popcorn button on microwaves. I stand in front of them and wait for the first pause in popping to turn it off.

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  10. my mther just set a sweet potatoe on fire. I think she set if for 2 hours rather than 2 minutues:))

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  11. My husband has a fire story and everytime we pass the church where he was painting when it happened, my boys ask him about it. Then we all laugh because he has told it so many times. It's one of those silly inside things that only the family understands. Guess you know exactly what I mean.

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    1. We love telling these stories over and over again.

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  12. This is just too funny! I love that the little one carried this on so long and that you and your husband joined in the imaginative fun. As I started writing this comment I was thinking "this has to be a little boy" and went back to reread the post. Yep! I knew it!

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    1. My husband didn't join in. Just the kids. :)

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  13. Oh, how cute, Tonja! We have a few stories in our family like that. Nice to see we're, um, normal.

    Sia McKye OVER COFFEE

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  14. Cute story. My cousin burned down his house when he was 8. I felt so bad for the kid. He turned out well though. :)

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  15. Hahaha, I love that eventually your son saved you all from the fire. Isn't if funny how stories grow and take on a life of their own? Very cute.

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  16. How cute! My husband is a master at making stories grow bigger and bigger each time he tells them! Hope you have a wonderful weekend :)

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  17. Heee - and in the end your son saved the day! What a lovely story. It's amazing what happens in microwaves if you leave something metal in...yikes.

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  18. Glad no one was hurt. Fun story how your son turned out to be the hero! Julie

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  19. That's like my kids too. They can't let things go. I'm still laughing at this one. :0)

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  20. Glad no one was hurt! And glad you son has a story to amuse you for years to come! ;)

    I am trying to read all the A to Z blogs, but coming back to the ones I really like.
    Looking forward to seeing what you do all month!

    Tim
    The Other Side
    The Freedom of Nonbelief

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  21. I love the way family stories can get bigger and bigger in the retelling :-)

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