Toast Anyone?

Monday started out like any other day.  Breakfast, cleaning, washing.....

Lunch came and went, the house was sparkling, I had just finished wiping down the kitchen benches when I placed my "toaster cover" back on the toaster....

Yes....I did say toaster cover.....

*side note*
I have a toaster cover because I am like Monica on the show "friends".  You know, the one who likes the things in her house,  'just so'.  Everything in it's place.  All my ducks in a row.

So yes I have a toaster cover....it makes my toaster look pretty, and neat and tidy and red to match the other red stuff in my house.....

So back to the story.

I placed the toaster cover over the toaster....by this time it was 1.30pm, so the toaster was cold.  I put it on and walked out of the room.

Whilst in the bathroom combing my hair, about 8 minutes later, the smoke alarm started blaring from the kitchen.

Hmmmm,  I thought.  DD (Dear Daughter) #1 must be making toast for lunch....


*another side note*

Teenagers do not keep  normal meal times. They usually eat 1-2 hours after everyone else!  So we had eaten and cleared up from lunch, and then the whole cycle starts again....when a teenager decides they are hungry!  :/

So I make my way out of my bedroom, (quite casually I might add).  And yell from the bedroom...."Flap the T Towel infront of the smoke alarm"!

As you may or may not know, us "Waldecks" burn toast on a regular basis, and therefore have come up with a very technical way of turning off the smoke alarm....flapping the tea towel infront of it, will move the smoke away and stop it from blaring!  (very technical).

So when there was no response from DD #1 and the smoke alarm was still blaring....I ran to see what all the commotion was.

Smoke, smoke, smoke, smoke and more smoke.....infact the whole house had filled up with smoke and it was coming from the direction from the toaster.

I tried to shove the toaster to one side, so I could reach over and turn off the toaster at the wall.

As soon as I moved the toaster, it caught alight, and was burning furiously.

Within 1 minute the top cupboards were starting to light up and the beloved Thermomix was in trouble....

*side note #3*

For those of you NOT familiar with the Thermomix....it is a $2000 machine that does everything in the kitchen....not something you want to go up in flames!
Should I say does everything in the kitchen, but not put out fires!

So in a panic I used the T towel to hit the fire (just like when the smoke alarm goes off), but instead I was fanning the flames bigger.

Ok, so I must admit, panic did set in then....until....my superhero flew into the kitchen and completely took over!

That's right people!  For those of you who think teenagers are immature, not responsible, and can't do anything for themselves....let me tell you...it's just not true!

DD #1 wet 2 T towels, one for her and one for I, to cover our mouths with (by then the smoke was thick and toxic from the melting plastic.

Then she turned off the switch and doused the flames with jugs of water.  All the while, giving instructions to the younger siblings to take themselves safely out the back, and take the cat with them.

5 jugs of water later, it was all over.  All this happened within 2 minutes.

I think another 30 seconds and the fire would have been completely out of our control, as the cupboards were almost about to go up.

Thanks to the quick thinking action of a 17 year old, my kitchen, and maybe the house was saved from burning!

Oh Stella!

After mopping up and getting over the shock of it....and going through the "what if's"....I realised what a smart, sensible, responsible, child I have raised, and I am so blessed and thankful to have a daughter who makes me so very proud to say I am her mother!

All those sleepless nights, and explosions in nappies, and the times I rocked her for hours, and the training, and time I have put in!  Has finally paid off, and I was shown the rewards of that today!


What happened you ask?


No, I am not an angry toast maker, nor is the toaster having revenge on our family....I think I must have pushed the handle down when I put the cover on it!

So the moral of the story?

Parenting is hard, but necessary!  And the time you put in will come back and reward you some day.....

Toasters are dangerous items, and we will no longer be eating toast!

And toasters don't like it when you put a cover over them! 

They are attention seeking appliances and need everybody to see them, so don't try covering them up!