Black Eyed Pea
Well, little Spartacus just sustained his first injury. We've added "Black Eyed Pea" to his list of monikers. And under my very close and watchful supervision, I might add. He's had his share of close calls...1) rolling off the bed (thank goodness it was not far off the ground due to a previous incident wherein the entire bed caved in, and he appeared to have rolled sideways onto his back rather than falling head first),
2) being locked in the car (thank goodness it was only 65 degrees out, although the sunny conditions had me in full lock-down paranoia while waiting for AAA to show up with a Slim-Jim...which they then used to break the window...I could have broken my own window in half the time, but thank you AAA for covering the cost of repairs), and
3) thumping his head on the floor numerous times as he learned to sit up on his own.
But while talking to my brother-in-law and comparing notes on the challenges of parenting one child vs. more than one (specifically with regard to preventing injuries since his second child is a litle dare devil...they've been to the emergency room too many times to count and they're both medical professionals), I jinxed myself (and Sparky). I said something to the effect that I hadn't done much baby proofing around the house yet because I'm attached to Sparky 24-7; with just one baby in the house this is much easier to do and he's less likely to get hurt. He agreed, remembering the days before their second baby came along.
And then we came home and when it was time for a bath, I put Sparky into his little baby tub inside the big tub. He was messing around, trying to climb out of the little tub and reaching for the shampoo bottle, and I was trying to wrestle him back into the little tub, when his hand slipped and he cracked his eyebrow on the side of the tub and started howling. At first I thought it was his forehead or his nose, but when I turned him around (and my husband came running from the living room when he heard the crack), there was blood running down his eye. Once we dried it off, we got the bleeding stopped pretty quickly and put ice on it to keep the swelling down, so we didn't need to go to the hospital, but it was obvious that he was going to be sporting a shiner for a few days. Poor little guy!
I've always said that a parent's job is not so much to prevent injuries as to be there to pick them up when they fall. But I'd really like to think I could do a little better on the prevention side. Afterall, I am supposed to be his Guardian Angel. 8-}
Labels: Baby Spartacus
posted by Gwynne @ 11:19 AM
4 Comments:
Ohhhhh...you've got a loooong way to go in the bumps and bruises department. If you start berating yourself now, you'll never go the distance. Pace yourself. For this first time a sprightly smack on your forehead with the palm of your right hand (or left hand, if you're lefthanded) is appropriate to the occasion. Save the inward scolding for the head dive into the corner of the coffee table or the face-first smack down when he trips on the crack in the sidewalk.
(BTW, I have a theory that, although no one will admit it, all the child safety paraphernalia is required because the manufacturers and parents have a wink-wink-nod-nod understanding that, while they would never not watch their child, they are, in fact, busy, busy people and maybe, perhaps look away for longer than anyone wants to admit...so the room must resemble the padded cell in an insane asylum -- not that it's needed, you understand...)
We are a clumsy species and it's a wonder we've survived this long. But I guess that's why God gave us skull and fat behinds (at least, that's what I tell myself...)
Yes, you're right. I do need to pace myself or I will be the one in the padded cell. One thing I'm learning this second time around is that I AM the annoying over-protective mother that I used to snicker at. I am the one sitting inside the bus with my toddler after putting 50 cents in for the ride (never mind the size of my behind), with baby wipes in hand ready to wipe down everything he touches. I am the one telling the bigger kids to back off. I am the one who doesn't let else babysit. I've got to get a grip on this before he's old enough to see me this way!
Don't worry. We'll just have him read the blog when he's older. That way even if you change into a laid-back angel, he'll still be able to see the paranoia in you.
Heh. Yeah, thanks. :-)
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