Friday, February 13, 2009

The Dishwasher


What is so fascinating about a dishwasher to a little boy? Well, that's obvious. The answer would be the trouble he can get into. Logan has become obsessed with the dishwasher over the past couple of months, but only recently it has become a real problem. He has taught himself how to push the buttons to start the dishwasher (or stop it if it's all ready running), and how to actually open the dishwasher when it is supposedly closed and locked. There is a button on our dishwasher that can "lock" the other buttons so they can't be messed with, but Logan is smarter than that. He knows how to push the "lock" button so that it unlocks. It was a nice idea, but it doesn't work.
A few days ago while Sam and I were in the living room, Logan wandered into the kitchen to play. I was half asleep on the couch and Sam was watching TV. I guess it got a little too quiet in the kitchen so Sam went to check on things. Turns out, Logan had opened the dishwasher door and found the cap to the liquid jet dry dispenser (that you have to twist to open and close). He opened it and started drinking the jet dry. We weren't sure how long he was doing this, it couldn't have been too long. But it was long enough that Logan made himself sick. Sam could smell the stuff all over Logan's mouth and as I ran to get the phone to call poison control, Logan started to throw it all up. YUCK!!! We were reassured by poison control that he was in no immediate danger and that we should give him sips of water and once he stopped throwing up to give him some milk. Logan just smiled and laughed through it all, I couldn't believe it. He recovered rather quickly and all is well. However, the dishwasher has become quite the fascination with Logan since then. He continues to try to go back for more jet dry. I turn my back for one second and he's opened the dishwasher again and trying to get to the jet dry. He's very determined. It must taste good to a 1 year old, although by the smell I would think it wouldn't. Sam and I have struggled for days to find ways to keep Logan away from it, and it wasn't until just this afternoon that I realized the answer lied in duct tape!!! So I went looking for some, but couldn't find any. I did however, find some packaging tape that I placed over the dishwasher handle. It worked like a charm. Logan tried so hard to get it to open, but was unsuccessful. HAHA!!! You'd think we would've thought of this earlier. Oh well. It's going to be a pain for us, but at least it keeps little hands and mouths away from where they shouldn't be.
(Oh, and the chips on the floor next to Logan in the picture...he had opened the pantry, pulled them out, and carried them with him for awhile before going to the dishwasher. Ahh, boys! You gotta love 'em.)

5 comments:

Minna Dyer said...

Kind of scary when kids eat chemicals, huh?
At least he found some humor. What a happy guy!

Anonymous said...

Jake has a fasicnation with the dishwasher too! So far no chemical issues, scarey! But he loves to pull the dishes out esp the knives! BOYS!

Aimee said...

Logan and my son must be exchanging information. I am not brave enough to leave the kitchen open, we have a gate up but Tyler knows all the buttons on the TV, the keyless entry on the van, the computer and any other button he finds, he has to push it. Good luck with him!!!

Christina said...

Yeah for duct tape! It solves all problems!!!

Stephanie said...

It's not just boys. All kids are just curious about opening up everything and buttons- so the dishwasher is perfect. Next it will be the stove while it's turned on- the fun never ends!