Thursday, July 1, 2010

KIDS AND ELECTRICITY

Much to my husband’s shock, we flunked the electrical inspection on our new basement yoga studio and gallery. It seems the code (an ever-changing tome) now requires a certain kind of electrical outlet designed to protect children from electrocution on all outlets, not just the ones in bathrooms. This new requirement was clear as a bell in the small print of the code – SO small that it escaped my husband’s notice. Now, he is faced with rewiring 48 outlets. I may not see him until Halloween when he comes up for air.
It seems little boys are prone to sticking things into outlets. My husband admitted that he did stick something in an outlet when he was a little kid and our son followed in his footsteps. When our boy was two years old, he stuck a key into an outlet in our hallway and made sounds like he was driving a car. I entered the hallway in time to see him fly two feet in the air. The incident left a big black mark on the wall. There was a visit to the emergency room to check for exit burns and cardiac arrhythmia but basically our son was fine. The only lasting effect was the jolt of electricity permanently straightened his curly hair. That and the wall required repainting.
A perceptive friend, on hearing about the new code which requires Mike to spend the rest of the summer rewiring each and every outlet responded, “You know, today’s children are such sissies.”