Toss the Toaster

Probably the strangest thing we inherited in our new house was a toaster built into the wall below the window by our kitchen table. The toaster pulls out like a drawer, around knee height. We tested it once, and it heats up, but doesn't pop up and turn off. On Tuesday morning I was home with Jake and Abby and went upstairs to brush my teeth. When I came down I noticed a burning smell. The gas dryer was running so I thought it might be that, but the smell was strongest in the kitchen. After a minute I discovered the toaster was on, still retracted in the wall. Abby said she didn't push the switch down, so it must have been Jake (it goes down pretty easily). I don't know how long it was, but it was burning hot. I pulled the toaster drawer out and opened the window above it to let it cool down. We have the instructions to it somewhere so I went over by our computer to look for them, in terms of disconnecting or removing the cursed thing (that's the 2-syllable "cur-sed"). While I was looking, Jake suddenly started screaming - he had made his way back over to the toaster and burned himself on it, as I hadn't blocked it off. Amidst his crying I tried to figure out where he burned himself, but I couldn't find anything on either hand, and eventually he calmed down a bit and started playing again. About 20 minutes later I found the burn - a bright red vertical line from the middle of his lower lip and down his chin. That panicked me enough to call Lisa, and we eventually got him to the doctor. We've tried to keep some bandaids on his chin, but that's only been somewhat successful. None of this has lessened his love of pacifiers, either, so it can't be too bad. Ultimately, he should heal up without any noticeable scar, but this is certainly the worst negligent father incident I've ever had (don't worry, I've finished beating myself up over it).