<p>Don’t idly ask your coworker if he is going to the dinner with the Big Boss who is in town for a day without checking the invite list first.</p>
<p>Don’t: Back up the car before checking that your kid has put the violin into the trunk.</p>
<p>Ack – I have heard about musical instruments being run over. </p>
<p>Here – don’t leave a glass of water sitting around. The cats will knock it over. They love doing that.</p>
<p>You guys and going up on the roof — why?</p>
<p>Don’t drive cars on frozen lakes. I’ve never done that, but have read a couple of sad stories about people who did this winter.</p>
<p>
That is very very scary coming from… Stradmom!!!</p>
<p>“Before we moved cross country to San Francisco my wife made me buy her a ring. She also made me promise… before we moved to San Francisco (jokingly, I think) that I would not turn gay.”</p>
<p>My niece made the reverse move from SF to the east coast last fall. She had a promise but no ring. Needless to say she is moving back to SF minus the boyfriend.</p>
<p>Don’t “join in” on the husband (or wife) bashing when your friend is going through a separation, regardless of what a self-centered, mean, egocentric jerk he may be. It’s always best to wait until the divorce is actually official! </p>
<p>Things get awkward if they get back together…</p>
<p>Don’t give the finger to that car behind you honking furiously.</p>
<p>It might be your neighbor trying to warn you that you left your books on top of the car.</p>
<p>Walk around barefoot in room after kiddo has been playing with LEGO. Ouch! #!*%#</p>
<p>Keep re-making choices and decisions after they’re made–it’s a hobby of my family’s and makes me bonkers!</p>
<p>Let kiddo 1 go to expensive U with great merit without considering other kiddo may want to go there too–full pay!</p>
<p>Refuse Kiddo #1 who has received terrific merit money the opportunity to go to a great school just in case Kiddo #2 wants to go to the same school . . . </p>
<p>Two sides to that one!!</p>
<p>Don’t tell a NYC taxi driver -" Get me to the airport in a hurry." Unless you enjoy 100 mph on the FDR Drive in traffic.</p>
<p>that sounds sweet. Imma do that if I visit NYC</p>
<p>Well, honestly, many of us didn’t think beyond kiddo 1 in considering what MIGHT happen down the road. I happened to us and a good friend. Oh well, at least we both got a discount on kiddo 1. I know some families would say that they would only pay a set amount and the kiddos can figure out how to make up the difference either in loans, working, or however they are able, or go to less expensive U.</p>
<p>Do not place one empty covered saucepan and one full covered saucepan on the stove, become confused about which is which, and turn the heat up to high under the empty covered saucepan. It is expensive (several thousand dollars for a new stove and a new kitchen floor). Plus your kids will lose all faith in your ability to prevent kitchen mishaps.</p>
<p>When in Italy, don’t eat dinner downhill from your hotel. You’ll have to walk up that hill afterwards, and you may have to push your H up the hill too!</p>
<p>I have cooked several pots on empty or boiled off all the water and exploded eggs in two pots. So far, I have been very fortunate and can still use the pots and the floor and stove. Once the fire department even came over while I was away from home, only broke one louvered window and turned off my stove and put my pot outside my door. They left no note that they had ever been to my home, only my neighbors clued me in and said because the firefighters left laughing, they figured it was all good. Once my property manager came over and turned off our stove–we had exploded boiled egg spread over a large area–you’d think we’d learn. <sigh></sigh></p>
<p>If you happen to somehow accidentally cook a pot with NO water and it starts to drip melted aluminum from the bottom, do NOT lift it and start carrying it around your kitchen. Your floor will not forgive you and the patterns it makes on the floor tend not to be appreciated but anything but grime and dirt.</p>
<p>Do NOT throw a cold piece of ham into a boiling pot of oil and expect a calm day–you will have more excitement and flames than you expect.</p>
<p>Do not forget to wash hands after feeding catnip to cats and before touching computer mouse.</p>
<p>Note to cat: get OFF my desk.</p>
<p>HImom, you live an exciting life.</p>
<p>don’t drink caffeinated beverage on an empty stomach. It tends to cause exacerbated hunger and uncontrolled fidgeting when sitting next to your boss, as he tries to explain something to you on the computer.</p>
<p>
Wise words, HImom. Of course, this is exactly what I did, to my keen regret. It wasn’t something I ever thought I’d need to know, because I never expected to cook a pot.</p>
<p>The bright side for us is that our floor was under warranty and the part far from where I dropped molten aluminum started breaking, so we were able to pick out a new floor and have it installed under the warranty. Didn’t have to look at the melted patterns on the sheet vinyl for more than a year or two. :)</p>
<p>I didn’t toss the ham into boiling oil, my younger sister did when she was about 9 years old or so. She and mom panicked when they saw flames but I found the pot cover and put it over the pot before anything other than the oil and ham caught fire. I had never seen such high flames indoors before or since! We had a nice smudge on the ceiling as a reminder.</p>