Pancake Mix

I Allison is old enough that I can trust her on the stairs without me watching her. I never leave her alone because the landing is small and that's where our pantry is (and she loves to take things off the shelf),  but if I need to go to the basement to switch over laundry or grab something, I know she'll be ok. I don't mind her playing the pantry because it's all sealed items...or so I thought. I completely forgot about the open box of pancake mix on a shelf just within her reach.

While I was putting the next load of laundry in, I realized how quiet the house was. I dropped everything and bolted for the stairs and saw this.

She had dumped out about half the box onto a wet floor (it was raining and we had been outside that morning) so the mix was sticking to the floor.

She started in with this fake cry because she knew I was mad.

I started to talk to her, asking her if she made the mess, "No" and if she was going to clean it up, "No". Then, when it didn't seem like I was too angry, she said, "Watch! and swept the mix off the landing, down the stairs (that have no back) and the mix sprinkled into the open box of winter clothes I had just packed away.

She started crying like a mad woman when I began to sweep up the mess. I guess she wasn't done playing.