Burnt rice and pecans in the shoes

My kids are creative and intuitive. They are also onery and downright rotten, which makes them about normal...I think. And I love them for all they are, even on the days they frustrate me.

Maybe because there's so much drama with Abby at school or because I'm working full time outside the house again. Or maybe because I'm older and wiser and have the gray hair to prove it. I don't know why, but I didn't completely lose it this morning when I smelled something burning right about the time we were getting ready to leave for school.

I couldn't immediately find the source. And while I was searching for appliances that might be to blame in the kitchen, I saw a blur of colors zoom right past the window...on the outside of the window. To their credit, the kids had backpacks, lunches and jackets neatly lined up on the sidewalk while they were running around and hollering in the front yard at 7:30 a.m. I called them both in so I could question them on the burning odor. Abby quickly admitted that she "did it" and then moved the kitchen garbage can aside. Behind it: a old Winnie the Pooh plastic bowl full of burnt rice. She wanted to make white rice for her brother, and according to her story, there were no directions on the box. (I doubled checked. There are.) I think she didn't add any water, and it was a black, stinky mess. We cleaned it up together, and I quietly thanked God that once again her mishap wasn't disastrous. We talked about having adult supervision in the kitchen, which is tough because she can make a lot of things on her own. But, even though she can, doesn't mean she should do it while I'm in the shower!

Later in the day, after the kids were picked up from school and we began settling in to evening routines, I found a trail of mulch on my bedroom floor near my son's shoes. Not unusual. Except one piece is literally the size of a pecan and as hard as a rock. I couldn't walk around with a pecan in my shoe all day. I'm relatively sure that I wouldn't last 30 seconds, and I'm not willing to experiment and see if I can. But I'm keeping the mulch...just like I do every day. We're planting a flower garden, and the school playground is funding the mulch! :-)