Burning down the house

Tom noticed after Christmas that something weird was going on with his ear. (Like being-able-to-blow-air-through-it kind of weird.) But he resisted my "get thee to a doctor" advice until it started really hurting January 1st. (Because what better day to start meeting your deductible?)

Turns out he has a raging ear infection and a perforated eardrum. Surprise!

He got an antibiotic and Lortab from urgent care Tuesday the 3rd and so hopefully will be feeling better soon. I ended up coming home at luch Wednesday to take over so Tom could rest. Apparently those inner ear thingies that I will call dizzy-tubes (because I am too tired to care enough to look them up) are being messed with so he's feeling dizzy and nauseated all the time right now. (So basically he's getting to experience morning sickness.)

Anyway, I tend to be a big old meanie whenever Tom is sick because I expect him to push through it like I do. (Of course this actually doesn't help me since I usually just end up sick for weeks or occasionally in the hospital, but it's how I roll.) So I get all cranky-pants when he IM's me to please come home.

I figured this time that a perforated eardrum qualified him as 'sick enough for a little sympathy' and came home.

Well first thing I find are the girls dressed up as a ballerina and a lion, vegging out to an iphone app and PBS. Too cute!

Then I send Tom to bed and make the girls some macaroni and cheese for lunch.

While I'm boiling the water, Gabi the lion wants to help. I tell her she can't be near the stove though so she pulls up to the only counterspace left, in front of the microwave and the toaster.

She's playing with a twist-tie and chip-clip magnets. She tries pushing down the toaster lever but I jump on her about it. I drain the pasta and start prepping the "cheese" part of lunch when I hear the microwave start up and just about immediately hear snapping noises as I swing around.

And see a fire in the microwave! We're not talking sparks, we're talking flames.

I snatched Gabi from the stepstool and turned off the microwave. The fire went out immediately thank goodness. She had put the magnetic chip clips in the microwave and turned it on. It literally took only 3 seconds to ignite.

After I'd calmed down sufficiently I really enjoyed being able to casually mention to Tom that I'd prevented the girls from burning down the house. Literally.

Guess it's a good thing I came home to watch them instead of insisting he could just lie on the sofa for horizontal parenting.