A boy was late for his first day back at school after almost setting his whole kitchen alight by microwaving Weetabix before he put the milk in.
Harrison Chatfield, 10, suffered the near miss after attempting to make his little sister's breakfast.
His mum Leanne had a nightmare first school run of the new year when she came downstairs to find the appliance in a cloud of smoke.
The busy parent was tending to her one-year-old daughter Alice, so Harrison kindly offered to ease the pressure.
The Year Six pupil was desperate to help his mum on what was his first day back, so he put Alice's Weetabix in the microwave to speed things along.
But the youngster forgot to add milk to the cereal and sure enough it was soon burnt to a crisp.
Leanne came downstairs when she smelt burning to find her £60 microwave filled with thick black smoke.
Thankfully, she arrived in time to turn the microwave off and prevent a house fire - but consequently Harrison was late to school.
Leanne, from Brighton, said: "Harrison is the sweetest boy and always wants to help me in anyway he can.
"He told me he'd make Alice's breakfast while I was getting the baby ready for the day, but he obviously forgot to add a very important ingredient.
"When I came down, the microwave was full of smoke, and after opening the microwave door, it filled up the whole kitchen.
"After the fumes cleared, a charcoal square was all that was left of the Weetabix and the inside of my microwave is now stained yellow.
"I can't get the stain off, no matter what I've tried, and now the smell of burning stinks out the kitchen whenever I use it.
"I've only had it two-months, but unfortunately I'm going to have to replace it.
"You have to laugh at these things, and I can't be angry because I know he was just trying to be helpful!
"We all make mistakes, it's just a shame it has to be a really smelly, expensive one!"
