Most of us have learned valuable lessons through Pinterest and our Pinstrosities.
Kelli learned that these 2-ingredient lemon bars need a pan bigger than a 9x13:
Shannon learned that this "17 Ways to Never Have a Bad Hair Day Again" list needs a different name:
Amy learned not to walk down the street on a hot day to deliver banana split bites to a neighbor:
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| I think the bananas needed to be a little shorter too... |
Abigail learned that the tip she saw on Pinterest about substituting mayo for eggs doesn't work in every recipe:
And Rachael learned that not all "DIY Cleaners" pins on Pinterest are safe:
"My name is Rachael and I am a military wife living in Georgia. My husband is currently deployed and I am a stay at home mom for the time being so I am a huge pinterest lover. Well, most of my projects come out great! However, last night I rescued a chihuahua from a really bad situation and after bathing it and putting it in the kitchen with my other dog I realized it had worms (icky) so I decided even though it was 2 am, I needed to disinfect my kitchen floor and separate the dogs. I had pinned a post for super disinfectant mop solution some time ago so I decided to pull it up. The recipe called for a gallon of water 1 cup of vinegar, 1 cup of bleach, and 2 tbsp of dawn dish soap. Excited to try this new thing I got out my mop bucket, products and mixing cups. I poured it all in the bucket and as soon as I added the bleach, a white cloud of chemicals started rising out of my mop bucket. I freaked and went to move my dogs out of the way and she knocked over the bucket. So I sopped it all up and proceeded to call poison control because my eyes were burning and some got on my feet and it was burning and my whole house had an awful smell. I was told to open all the windows in my home, run fans and get myself and the two dogs and my toddler out of the house immediately. By this time is was three am. I woke up my two year old and me and the two dogs and her sat outside from 3-4 am in the freezing cold waiting for the fumes to dissipate. I tried to find the pin to attach it, but it has been deleted due to my actions of reporting it! My family got a good laugh and I'm trying to find the humor in the awful night, lol. I love your site and blog. Thanks for bringing lots of smiles to my face during the hard third deployment."
And then sometimes we have lessons that we learn completely free and clear of Pinterest. They end up being more of Lifestrosities. We had a recent one in our house. I had a huge chunk of work to do one week and was barely staying afloat, so my sweet husband worked on cleaning the house for me. I was in the zone and not paying much attention as he was straightening the kitchen and loading the dishwasher. It wasn't until I saw something white moving across the floor than I looked over and chuckled.
Cameron learned that when you're out of dishwasher detergent...you can't pour in regular dish soap.
Teehee...he hadn't noticed yet. I grabbed the camera and snapped a photo just before he turned and discovered the adventure pouring out of the dishwasher. Poor guy had no idea this would happen. Here he was thinking he was the most awesome husband in the world as he cleaned the kitchen and rocked out to The Pogues, only to look up and discover the never ending spew of bubbles. So what do you do at this point? You mop. And Mop. And Mop. And Mop. Our floor is cleaner than it's been in a long time!
It took 3 full runs of the dishwasher before it quit looking like this inside:
We laughed about this all day. And that brings me to my final "lesson learned" of the day. Don't let these "life lessons" (be they Pinstrosities or Lifestrosities) get you mad or down. Life is too full of stress and dumb things to be mad all the time. I'm glad we have the bubble mess as a funny memory to look back on rather than one where we got mad and made a huge deal over nothing. Life happens. There will be ups and downs. Just breathe (well...unless you're Rachael...then breathe once you're out of the fuming house), smile, take a picture, and try to find something funny or good about the situation. As Eleanor Hodgman Porter wrote in her book Polyanna, "You see, when you're hunting for the glad things, you sort of forget the other kind." Find the glad in life. It'll make thing much more bearable.
Funny about the dishwasher, but something that EVERYONE needs to know: never ever ever ever ever EVER mix vinegar and bleach!!!! Not ever!!! Obviously as she found out...haha! But really, it's super dangerous.
ReplyDeleteAdding to that, I think Dawn has ammonia in it, so it was an even bigger no-no, since you never mix ammonia and bleach either. Sheesh, she's fortunate she and her family didn't get sick from it.
DeleteAcid plus bleach equals hydrochloric acid in your lungs! NEVER mix chlorine bleach with an acid or ammonia!
ReplyDeleteI thought the reaction was the dawn and bleach, it says on the label not to add bleach , it gives off noxious fumes.
ReplyDeleteAmmonia (which is in Dawn) and bleach give off the toxic fumes.
DeleteIt was both. Dawn has ammonia in it, and shouldn't be mixed with bleach, nor should vinegar be mixed with bleach.
DeleteYou shouldn't really add anything to bleach to be on the safe side. Better yet, ditch the bleach entirely.
DeleteIt ALWAYS says on the bleach bottle not to mix with anything else. That chlorine gas is serious business.
ReplyDeleteYou never mix bleach and ammonia (which is in most dishwashing liquid) -that's where the toxic fumes come from.
ReplyDeleteI laughed at the D/W episode. My 3 year old son decided to help mommy do the dishes this way, except it was nearly a full bottle of Dawn. The shop vac got a work out that day. This after he tried to make Kool-aid with the only white stuff he could find, flour. I had orange glue all over my kitchen. I can smile now.
ReplyDelete"How to Get Naturally Curly Hair" should have been the first clue. You don't *get* that which is natural; you are just stuck with it, LOL.
ReplyDeleteI have NEVER had a Pinstrosity because I cross-reference everything first. Also, I've noticed the majority of fails on this blog are due to people not following the directions. All easily avoidable.
ReplyDeleteHowever, in a brain-fart moment I absent mindly put Dawn in my dishwasher...boy that was a long day.
Never ever mix vinegar and bleach or ammonia and bleach!! Ammonia and vinegar are okay if I remember correctly but I'd double check. As someone that uses homemade fabric cleaners this is important information to know!
ReplyDeleteI never would have guessed about vinegar and bleach. I knew about ammonia & bleach, though. I'm thinking a good rule is: never mix anything with bleach unless you know 100% it is safe! Or, just don't mix anything with bleach ever - it's toxic enough as it is. ;)
ReplyDeleteI just stay on the safe side and never mix bleach with anything. :)
ReplyDeleteI've also put regular dishsoap in the dishwasher. I was young then. hehehe. Lesson learned.
Awww she would have been fine if she had just left out the bleach :( But I'm glad Rachael and babe are ok...if a little tired. I have to add...your hubby is HOT, well done girlie!
ReplyDeletewe broke our dishwasher. I have an olive oil bottle that I put dish soap in and it was getting gross and was empty (except what was stuck on the bottom and sides) so i just threw it in the dishwasher. Same thing happened...plus the whole bottom of the dishwasher broke from the soap! I hope yours is ok!
ReplyDeleteSo glad Rachael and her kiddo are okay!!! (and the doggies too!)
ReplyDeleteThat last picture is PRICELESS.
Oh I needed the laugh from the dishwasher incident!!!
ReplyDeleteFunny about the dishwasher. My hubby did that once when I'd left him alone with the kids for 3 days... the kids thought it was so fun... I think they made soap angels.
ReplyDeleteThat happened to my dishwasher at work. If you are vinegar to the wash or rinse cycle that helps clean out all those suds.
ReplyDeleteIf you haven't made them yet, don't! Mine stayed in the pan, but completely sank like a bad souffle as they cooled. The texture is awkward, spongy on the bottom and slightly creamy on the top, and the taste is just bizarre. They were somehow both sickeningly sweet and very sour. Most of the pan wound up in the garbage. Luckily, the ingredients only cost a couple dollars.
ReplyDeleteThe photo of the husband sweeping the floor might just be the most gorgeous thing I've ever seen :)
ReplyDeleteI agree^^^ Awesome man for helping his wife.....and cleaning up his own mess
ReplyDeleteSo I missed this post earlier. But We have also had the kids add dawn to the dishwasher. Salt is a great bubble stopper. I actually stopped the dishwasher so I wouldn't have an entire kitchen of bubbles. Pour salt liberally on the bubbles. I don't know why it works, but it does. Or I have heard a little oil will also do the same thing, But I didn't want to deal with oil in my dishwasher. Ran the dishes through twice, and all was good.
ReplyDeleteI know your post is old and you may not see this, but yes, I have made the two ingredient lemon bars. I just didn't use THAT recipe - I use the recipe my family has always used.
ReplyDeleteCombine 1 box angel food cake mix (the one step kind... use just the mix, don't follow box instructions) with ONE can of lemon pie filling. Bake until set and slightly golden.
You can also use the confetti angel food cake mix (I did by accident once) if you'd like the bars more festive.
These also taste good if you sprinkle powdered sugar on top.
They also freeze nicely.