House Go Boom!

How do you explain to a two-year-old that they are NOT to touch the knobs on the front of the stove due to the threat of a gas leak that could cause the house to explode? I tried today but don't think Ada really understood. This all came just minutes before we left the house for day care and I just happened to be standing at the stove packing my lunch when I smelled gas and noticed the right back burner knob was turned on to low with no flame. Luckily I saw it, turned it off and opened the back door for a few minutes to air out the house before we had to leave. I also left the bathroom window cracked open an inch for the day to air things out, just in case.

Once I got to work, I realized just how dangerous her little knob turning incident was when my neighbor Kelly called to tell me that she and two other neighbors smelled gas in the hallway this morning. I quickly fessed up via email to calm all of my neighbors' fears -- or ignite them knowing that they have a two-year-old pyro living in their building. I did let them know to always check my stove first if they smell it in the future and I'm willing to give them all a set of keys to our unit, if that helps at all. Yikes!

I tend to think I'm good about keeping the knobs off when we aren't cooking, but in my exhaustion following my 6 hour grocery shopping and cooking marathon on Monday, I must have forgotten to remove the knobs. Talk about a lucky break. And now I want to just punch the person who designed my stove in the face and tell him or her and their design team that they are a bunch of idiots. I'm just glad I'm not responsible for buying the stove new because then I'd just have myself to blame.

Moral of the story: Don't buy a stove with ignitor knobs that can be easily turned on by a child. Invest in safety features to prevent them from accidentally being turned on. And be sure to check them often, and first whenever you smell gas... or just get an electric stove.