Mommy Moment...
Have you ever made soup? I mean real homemade soup.
Well, I like to make soup. Usually I start by making a broth. It might be chicken, or it might be beef. Either way, I put the meat in a Dutch oven, cover it in water and let it simmer most of the day. Then I make my soup with it in the evening. That's how it SHOULD go, but...
It was a busy day. We were going to go into town for errands. I hadn't thought to start the soup broth earlier, so just before we left I turned it up a bit high...just to get it started, you know. I planned to turn it to simmer as soon as it got hot.
We got ready and headed into town. Jenna, Kali, Caleb and I hustled around grocery shopping for the company that was coming. We had fun planning out some meals for our guest. We had agreed to host an exchange student from Denmark; She would be here in 2 days.
I knew what I had done the minute we turned into our driveway. I could smell the smoke!
Suddenly, I was shouting at the kids to stay in the car! Don't move! They had no idea why I was shouting or why they had to stay in the car, or what had happened to their real mom.
I parked out front, not daring to pull into our garage. Walked into the garage. So far so good, but the smell was horrible. I crossed through the garage dreading what I'd see when I opened the door. I opened the house door. I could see nothing; The smoke was so thick I couldn't see a thing (it's maybe 20 feet from our back door to the opposite wall and I couldn't see it)!
I dashed in, shut off the stove, and dashed back out. I returned to the car to explain what was happening to the kids. Then I walked around the outside of the house, opening the doors to get fresh air in and smoke out. It dawned on me that I could switch on the ceiling fans from the doors, so I did that, too.
Thankfully nothing burned...except the beef bone. But my poor kids spent the next 24 hours cleaning EVERYTHING! Devin ran a carpet shampooer for hours and hours. We scrubbed walls, we washed every blanket, pillow, tablecloth, and towel. The washing machine ran continuously!
We learned 2 important lessons.
Pear scented fragrances cover smoky smells
Air conditioner filters hold smoke and must be cleaned out after a smoky event (otherwise, when they are turned on, the room fills with smoke again)
Mommy, you got this!
