A New Chapter

I am a mommy to 3 wonderful kiddos. I wouldn't trade my job for anything in the world...at least most of the time. But, if I were to be completely honest, I think that there are times that, if given the chance, I'd go back & re-think the motherhood option. And, don't get me wrong, it's not because I don't like my kids. Its just that there have been occasions when something has happened that I haven't been completely prepared for. And really, no matter how many parenting books you might read, nothing can prepare you for the day when your youngest son sets fire to the living room coffee table. I mean, come on, did I miss a chapter somewhere?

A few weeks ago (and yes, I'm WAY late in blogging about this little event, but its been a busy few weeks around here!) I had decided to dedicate my entire day to working - not working at my mommy job, but working at my other job, the one I am paid to do. Anyway, I was intently doing something at my desk in the downstairs study/office and, quite honestly, not paying a whole lot of attention to Morgann & Ian who were home. They had been playing 'normally' together (playing, then fighting a little, then playing, then fighting some more) and were, for at least a few moments, downstairs in the adjacent family room. Ian had been running back & forth from room to room, making the obligatory dinosaur/dragon noises he's so famously known for, while Morgann was watching a princess movie on the couch. Both had been playing alone for a bit and not fighting, so I sort of became engrossed in my work, meaning I had also become oblivious to what my son was playing with - mistake #1. It wasn't until I heard a loud scream from Morgann that I snapped back to my REAL reality.

And really, screams in the house don't usually trigger much of a reaction out of me since all 3 kids have this high-pitched scream that emits from their inner-most beings at all hours of the day, but this particular scream was different. It was the type of scream that didn't say "that hurts" or "that makes me mad" or even "touch me again and I'll hurt you". It was the type of scream that caused me to jump out of my seat and dash for the next room.

As I ran toward the family room, I made a quick note that my carpet runner was rolled into a nice ball and laying in the corner of my entry way. Very unusual, but I didn't take much stock of it until I realized what else was missing. It was when I entered the family room and noted the large ball of flame billowing from the center of my coffee table that I realized that my candle had been covered by a rubber no-slip mat, usually found underneath my carpet runner in the entry way!

AAAAHHHH!!!!

Ok, first thing that came to mind was to scream....so I did that! The next thing was to smother the ever-growing flame with a blanket, towel, small child - no scratch that - anything I could get my hands on to snuff it out. Um, yeah, nothing around to throw over it. Dang it! Ok, dance around and panic. Now, um, maybe I should just blow it out....yeah, you read that right! With absolutely nothing to throw over the flame except my son or daughter, I had to think fast. So, the first thing my pee-brain thought of was to blow, really hard. So I did!

Do you know that the flame actually went out?!? My blowing on the rubber mat engulfed in flames didn't fan the fire at all - it actually extinguished it! I couldn't believe it either!!!

So, in case you happen to have a small child with tendencies toward mischevious and unexpected conduct, let me suggest that you (1) print this blog and add it as an additional chapter to your favorite "How To Parent" book, (2) always be sure to have a towel or small blanket laying around in any room where you might decide to light a candle, and (3) keep a small fire extinguisher handy in case you feel the need to simply blow on an open flame - I'm betting that lightning (or blind luck) like this wouldn't strike twice. What do you think?