1-800-CALL MOM
1-800 CALL MOM
Show me a working mother who has never had a frantic phone call from a child when she is at work, and you will show me a very lucky woman. There have been several times during my working career that I have been on the other line of a phone call from one of my children.
When my son was in first grade, he called me at the office one afternoon to report that the microwave was on fire. The conversation went something like this.
Mom, mom the microwave is on fire!!!!!
Is it still burning?
No.
Are you hurt?
No.
Where is your sister?
In the bathroom.
Where is your father?
In the garden?
Tell me what happened.
I was thawing out some frozen cookies and the plastic bag caught on fire.
What did you do?
I got a spoon and hooked the bag and dropped in in the sink and turned on the water.
That was quick thinking, and you didn’t burn yourself?
Well, no, but Mom, some of the burning bag fell on the floor and burned a hole in the carpet.
(Yes, dear reader, there were carpeted kitchens in the good old days. Now the real crisis was revealed. What to do about the burned carpet?
Okay honey, drag the rug in front of the sink over the bad spot and we will talk about it when I get home.
This event was memorialized by a picture drawn in school and displayed on our refrigerator.
Don’t ever watch Home Alone and believe that your latch key children won’t be up to something. Even with dad in the back yard and big sister in the bathroom, Mom will get the call.
