I thought I had a million dollar idea, but with a quick little search, I found it already exists (dang!): a kitchen timer that COUNTS UP after the timer goes off.

A timer that reassures you that your cookies aren’t little carbon nuggets.

I can still cling to the brilliance of this idea by applying it to actual kitchen appliances with a timer, namely, an oven and microwave. Are you listening, Maytag, Fridgidaire, GE, Kenmore…??

Here’s the scenario:

Dinner is in the oven. My toddler has a Stage-4 blowout combined with a Stage-5 You’re-Not-Paying-Me-Enough-Attention freakout. I need to leave the kitchen and attend to matters.

The timer goes off. I’m upstairs, up to my elbows in baby goop. The incessant beeping isn’t terribly helpful except to remind me that though I’m being a decent parent, my dinner MAY be burning to a crisp. It would be nice if once that timer goes off, it starts COUNTING UP, letting me know how long I’ve let my dinner get crispy. Or it would be nice to know that once I’ve returned to the kitchen that it’s only been a mere 4 minutes, and everything is just fine. Don’t panic.