The Silent Gasp

Last weekend, my five year-old daughter took it upon herself to wash a sink full of dirty dishes by hand, alone. As I entered my kitchen, I heard her singing made up songs about dirty dishes and saw a mountain of bubbles rising from my sink with a pile of soapy dishes “drying” to the side of it. I started conversing with her about washing the dishes and all the pretty bubbles. As I panned the scene, the new bottle of dish soap, which I had bought the day before, entered my line of sight, with maybe a quarter of the liquid remaining. Then it happened – the silent gasp! Luckily, I captured this all too common, but often ignored, event on video. It’s a fleeting reaction that parents know well, compacted with too many emotions to list, among them, the desire to hide any critical judgment. It is almost always followed by an ambiguous declaration or request for clarification that is meant to both distract the recipient from noticing the silent gasp, and justify the gasp, in order to make-up for the guilt that the gasper now feels for having been judgmental. My silent gasp was followed by my asking, as non-chalantly as possible: “How much soap was in the bottle when you started washing the dishes?” I waited an eternity (about 2 seconds) for her answer - hoping that by some miracle my husband had done 400 loads of dishes the night before or that a neighbor had come and borrowed a cup of…soap. Realizing the slim probability of either, I dreadfully anticipated her response. She used her hand to indicate that the bottle indeed, had been full a few minutes ago. The mountain range of soap bubbles in the sink corroborated her claims, and I took it all in as she went back to singing her wonderful made-up songs from atop of her chair at the side of my sink. I sat in exasperated awe of this tiny person diligently washing the dishes, blissfully unaware of the perfectly-working dishwasher to her right.

Recipe: Beat-to-Your-Own-Drumsticks in Spanish Rice

1 ½ Lbs raw chicken legs

4 cups Chicken Broth

1 family sized package Spanish yellow (saffron) rice  ( I use Vigo brand but any brand with Saffron in it will do)

Place ingredients in large slow cooker. Set for 4 ½   hours on high. Enjoy!


So, what makes you silently gasp? Is it something wonderful, something awful, or something else entirely? Please post your responses as comments below.