Hypothetically speaking, if you were to chop vegetables for soup at noon, but never get around to making the soup until, say, six o’clock—if, for instance, after you chopped the vegetables, the three-year-old were to be the sort of cranky that indicates she needs a nap, but the one-year-old wasn’t ready to sleep and everybody else needed lunch, and then when the one-year-old did fall asleep for her nap, the three-year-old woke up cheerlessly, and somehow between that and providing assistance and direction to the (homeschooled) six- and nine-year-old, the afternoon got away from you—after sitting on the counter for six hours, it appears that the veggies will be a little wilted, but the soup will turn out just fine.

The fact that it then takes you another forty minutes to peel the garlic to start the soup—possibly because you need to peel ten cloves, and you are interrupted after each and every clove by “requests” for “help” with “inter-sibling problem-solving”—will also not harm the soup in any way.

For future reference.