A Light Dusting

Not much will strike fear into a mother's heart faster than the words "Uh-Oh!" and "Oopsy!" when exclaimed by her five-year old son, who is perched atop a kitchen stool, trying to be helpful in a cooking adventure.
Faster than she is able to traverse three rooms and visually inspect the damage, she takes a mental inventory of all the possibilities. What kind of uh-oh? "I fell and hit my head"- nope, no screams. "I dropped something and it shattered into a million pieces" nope- not guilty enough, and I don't think own anything that could shatter anymore. "I did something to annoy/injure/disgust/frustrate my sister"- no, no retaliation noises.
Well, must be the last kind of oopsy- the "I just made a huge mess and mom won't like it, but I really don't feel too bad about it" kind of oops. As she rounds the entry to the kitchen, her guess is confirmed. A thin layer of flour, cocoa, and sugar coats three counters, the stove, the floor, and the stool. And of course the kitchen helper, but he doesn't seem to notice. He continued his mixing of the dry ingredients for cookie dough with a little too much enthusiasm, adding another layer of ingredients to the sugary snowstorm. But who is she to discourage the budding genius of the next iron chef? So she waits until he is finished whisking and hands him the dustbuster, his other favorite kitchen tool. If only she had manged to get to him before the cocoa managed to coat the bottom of every one's shoes and socks and leave slippery little trails all over the house.
This morning as we waited two extra hours for school to start due to the fear of snow or frozen roads, I am reminded of our kitchen adventures about a month ago. With all of the muddy buddies, sugar cookies, and gingerbread houses, I was sure that our kitchen would be unable to rise above the constant coating of confectioner's sugar that covered every flat surface.
We did come away with a White Christmas, albeit a slightly sticky one. Now it is a western winter- no snow but plenty of chocolate-scented dust to slide around on.
Now to finish those cookies. And I probably need to mop.

PS. You know what else scares me? I lost my camera. Haven't seen it in over a week. I hope it turns up soon!