I prefer to make most crockpot recipes on school days so the kids are out of the house while the meal is cooking.  It’s especially important with split pea soup because the aroma of split pea soup will take over the house and by the time it’s dinnertime, we’ve all sort of lost our taste for it.  You know how that is, after you’ve smelled something cooking all day?  That’s why I love my crockpot.  I put something in, run errands or go to work, come back and enjoy the aroma for the first time that day.