Sunday, February 22, 2009

Ya Know....Just The Usual

Oh, Brendan. Our dear sweet Brendan.

Yes, he has autism.

Yes, that means that his logical processing skills are....lacking, to put it gently. Especially when it comes to the consequences of his own behavior.

But seriously - you'd think he'd know better.

Especially after all he's been through.

Remember this? Rafiki burnt to a crisp.

And then this? Brendan's torso burnt to a crisp.
It started out as a wonderful Sunday morning.

Sierra sleeping in, younger 3 boys upstairs playing quietly, Brendan watching Monsters Inc (the current Disney movie of choice) in his room, all while mommy and daddy laid in bed, enjoying the silence.

While it lasted.

And then this... Of course, I'm saying, "What the heck is that??" while Roger goes plowing down the hall to find this...
filling up the kitchen, office, living get the point.

All from the microwave. Which apparently lets you cook food by the hour.

So while Jordan came down the stairs screaming, "It wasn't US!!! We weren't even DOWN here," and Camden was helping with "Do we need to call the fire fighters? I know how!" Roger and I opened all the windows and got the kids out of the way.

Sierra finally decided to join the party, but instead of shock, she was more concerned with tattling."MOM-I can see the boys, and they're outside playing with their friends on a Sunday!" Because we all know that breakin the Sabbath is the biggest of our worries at the moment.

I must admit though, that once the intial panic subsided, they had a blast climbing in and out through the window (since it has no screen).

And playing tag with their next door buddies.

And telling them, "We can't go back into our house yet or we could die."

"Yeah-we could be DEAD."

Let's just keep that last part to ourselves, okay boys?

Meanwhile, the search for the culprit began.

Not in his room.

Not anywhere downstairs.

Not anywhere upstairs.

We finally located him in the corner of the backyard, visibly shaken.....but still smart enough to high tail it out of the house in a heroic act of self preservation....and so that he could watch as the rest of us perished in flames.

Once the smoke cleared (although the burnt plastic smell did not), we got to work unscrewing the surround... and taking Mr. Stinky Pants out into the garage until our next monthly bulk pick-up...

because something is telling me that he's beyond repair.
Just a hunch.


  1. I'm so glad everyone is okay! What WAS in there?!

    I'm kind of chuckling because my dad LOVED to play with electricity about 5am. Our morning wake up call many times was FIRE! I learned to sleep in pajamas that could pass as clothing.

  2. Oh my GOODNESS what the heck was in there???? Glad you are all OK! :)

  3. Wow! Glad everyone is ok. How's your son doing?

  4. holy crap! glad to know i am not the only one who almost burned down their house recently! (but i am an adult, you'd think i'd know better!) will have to post that later! thank goodness for smoke alarms!

  5. Oh my GOODNESS!
    I'm glad everyone is okay.

  6. Oh man! Never a dull moment.
    dd you ever figure out what he put in there?

  7. HA!!! Ha, ha, ha! HA!!! HA!!! That is hilarious!

  8. all i can say is: Oh. My. Gosh.

    these moments are what make life interesting and will be good stories in the future, right? hope the burnt plastic stank is gone soon.

  9. OMG. It almost resembles the blob. Ummm, glad none of you were hurt!

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  11. I'm glad you're all ok, but mom and I are both saddened that you think Mr. Stinky Pants is a lost cause. I mean honestly.. don't you have the artistic ability to turn him into a Texas Redneck Flower Pot or something ;-)

    Hope you're able to get rid of the burnt plastic smell. That's awful!

  12. I love love love that you can laugh about this as it actually happens. Impressive. My husband has a brother with autism and we have MANY similar stories that get told over and over and still are entertaining. Isn't it wierd that we both have been married the same number of years and have the same number of kids?? I'm guessing it has something to do with playing the clarinet in Jr. High, right? Wow, that was a looooooooong time ago.

  13. Rebecca,
    I had to share your post with Nathan. Amazing! So glad he can help keep things alive at your house!

  14. Oh... I'm sorry but that just gave me the best laugh and made my day. I love getting these little gems from other moms. Reminds me I'm not the only one who feels like she's swimming upstream sometimes. Thank you for that. I read it last night and I'm still chuckling.

  15. Okay, take a big deep breath.....
    and keep on truckin'.

  16. OMG! So glad you are all is Brendan? and yes what was in there?

  17. WOW!! lol!! WOW!!! You are amazing to still be half way sane Rebecca!

  18. It takes quite a person to be able to blog about that the actual day it happened. With humor. Wow.

  19. I can't believe that you would go so far as to blame this on Brendan!... I'm just thinking that you wanted a new microwave and set it to timed bake, so that you could be laying in bed with Roger when it went off. Poor Brendan! I'll have to call and tell you about our house almost "blowing up completely" when the "other" adults in the house left the GAS on the stove ON, (with NO Flame)... Glad the boys had a Great time and Sierra was able to keep the "spirit of the day" alive!



  20. Too stinkin' funny! I say that because it happened to you and not me. So the next time you think about having a lazy morning in bed....get up and cook breakfast instead!!!

  21. How you found a moment in the insanity to take a picture I have no clue...but love the story!

  22. Oh Brendon.....we sure miss his funny behaviors! I will always remember driving him around the block for 20 just because he wanted to be in the car! Funny boy....well the "starting the house on fire" is not so funny! Glad you are all OK.

  23. Oh my...add me to the list of people who want to know what was in there. Or was there anything and the microwave melted in on itself? Because I can see that, too.

    I'm glad you post stuff like this, because you are preparing me for the future. Note to self: figure out if microwave locks.

