Give her just five minutes...

Making dinner can be a difficult time in my house.  I love to cook and find it to be one of the most enjoyable parts of my day.  I either watch television or listen to music on my iPod while I chop, mince, and fillet.  The smells of onion, garlic, and tomato sauce are common in my kitchen.  Today it was a brown rice medley with garlic, Middle Eastern grilled chicken, sauteed spinach with roasted garlic, and oatmeal raisin cookies for dessert.  Really, it wasn't nearly as complicated as it sounds.

Keeping Kid 5 interested and entertained while I'm cooking dinner is somewhat of a challenge.  Sometimes she's great and will watch TV or play on the computer, or monkey around outside on the swing set.  Her activities should be monitored at all times, but when I'm cooking it isn't always possible.   All it takes is five minutes.

I know it was five minutes because she was in the kitchen with me, sitting precariously on the kitchen counter near the sliding glass door.  The chicken was almost done, so I put the spinach on, knowing it would only take about five minutes.  Just as I placed the spinach in the wok, I told Kid 5 to get off of my kitchen counter, that it wasn't a place to sit; that's why we had dining room chairs.  

As she slid off of the counter, she must have slipped out of the sliding glass door into the backyard.  Little did I know she took something with her.  

Just as the spinach was finishing, I told my hubby that dinner was ready and he walked into the kitchen.  He looked out into the backyard and asked, "Jackie, what is that all over you?  Is that mud?"  It wasn't mud.  Kid 5 had found a bottle of black Kiwi edge dressing - the stuff you put around the bottom of a dress shoe to make it shiny - and took it outside with her.  We aren't really sure what she was trying to do, but she ended up with black edge dressing from her neck to her feet.  There was a moment of silence, and two big sighs.    

If anyone is curious, edge dressing is not like dye.  It doesn't stain, it is more like a coating, so when I tossed Kid 5 into the bath, it peeled off easily with a washcloth.  I really wish my child locks still worked.