After broken glasses and burnt fingers I think it is time to ask for help. DD is obsessed with helping me in the kitchen, whether it is washing up or cooking. It is driving me mad, I don't want to quash her desire to help, but am beginning to get really scared of a serious injury happening. Also sometimes I just want to get the job done, the frustration makes me want to cry.

Our previous kitchen was quite good, there was one way in and a step down and could be blocked by a gate. Also if her steps were in the lounge she could not get them into the kitchen without help. The kitchen in this house is just not child friendly, 2 ways in, one too large for the gate. The whole house is one level so she can grab her steps or a little chair and drag it to where ever she wants to be. So I am trapped to the kitchen with any cooking, I can't even turn my back on the stove to do something at the sink or bench as in that moment she will drag her steps up to the cook top and try to help. I spoke to DH about a cooktop guard and he says no, as I should be watching her, all well and good until I need to do something at the sink. Just thankful the oven it a wall one, our old oven you could touch the glass and not get burnt (great feature, but does not teach them about not touching ovens).

This afternoon she did get a slight burn on the tip of her thumb, she had to help with the scrambled eggs. I cooked them for her, took them off the heat, gave her the fork and told her to stir and not touch the saucepan, well guess what she did? No real damage, one part of me feels bad, but the other hopes it has taught her a lesson. I am so worried that next time it will be much worse.

Washing up is almost impossible, I have had to pick glass out of my feet too many times, for some reason I am the only one who treads in it. The kitchen bench gets drench in water and sometimes important paperwork in the process. Our hot water is set way to hot, I have asked DH many times to turn it down, but he still has not. It is a nasty scald waiting to happen. The previous house had a dishwasher, so I did not have to deal with this before, just help turning the dishwasher on.

How can I deal with this without tantrums and injury, before I just give up on cooking and we live on take away with paper plates.