A few weeks ago, I went upstairs during the dreaded mania that is bedtime. (3 boys going to bed at the same time is a nightmare of loudness and activity and teasing and NOT brushing their teeth and jumping on beds and suddenly remembering that they have a masterpiece of an art project that they wanted to do that day and they must to do it right then and I'm so mean because I won't let them!! Ugh.)
When I reached the top of the stairs, Benjamin said, "Mom, my room smells funny." Again, with that many boys in my house, a room smelling funny is not breaking news. But I finally went into that room and smelled BURNING!! I thrust the baby at Benjamin and started looking for the source!
I have no pictures of the actual event, but what I found was one of these lights
which are clipped on to my boys' beds for reading. Unfortunately, this one had fallen down into Caleb's nest of pajamas that he'd left on the floor instead of in the basket under the bed. The lamp wasn't on when it fell down, though, because it's plugged into an outlet that is controlled by a light switch. It wasn't until Benjamin came upstairs to read and flipped on both switches that the trouble began.
I know there are many concerns out there about childrens' pjs these days being made from flame retardant materials. I get the concerns, I really do. But that light burned holes through three separate pairs of pajamas and didn't light a fire, because of those chemicals. The light itself melted in the process and didn't start a fire in those pajamas. The edges of the clothes melted into a hard line forming an almost perfect hole in all three pairs and was rapidly approaching the carpet when I finally got it out. The light and pjs were ruined, and the room did indeed smell funny, but my kids and my house were safe and for that I feel very, very grateful and blessed.
When I reached the top of the stairs, Benjamin said, "Mom, my room smells funny." Again, with that many boys in my house, a room smelling funny is not breaking news. But I finally went into that room and smelled BURNING!! I thrust the baby at Benjamin and started looking for the source!
I have no pictures of the actual event, but what I found was one of these lights
which are clipped on to my boys' beds for reading. Unfortunately, this one had fallen down into Caleb's nest of pajamas that he'd left on the floor instead of in the basket under the bed. The lamp wasn't on when it fell down, though, because it's plugged into an outlet that is controlled by a light switch. It wasn't until Benjamin came upstairs to read and flipped on both switches that the trouble began. I know there are many concerns out there about childrens' pjs these days being made from flame retardant materials. I get the concerns, I really do. But that light burned holes through three separate pairs of pajamas and didn't light a fire, because of those chemicals. The light itself melted in the process and didn't start a fire in those pajamas. The edges of the clothes melted into a hard line forming an almost perfect hole in all three pairs and was rapidly approaching the carpet when I finally got it out. The light and pjs were ruined, and the room did indeed smell funny, but my kids and my house were safe and for that I feel very, very grateful and blessed.
2 comments:
Oh man, that is scary! So glad you were all kept safe.
So scary! Thankful everyone was safe. Thankful too that it was the flame-resistent jammies and not a pile of blankets. Thanks for the perspective.
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