Monday morning Alison missed the bus.
That should have been my first clue as to how the day was going to go.
With a quick change of plans, we started the prep to take Alison to school and then go to the Y.
I was changing Colin's diaper, Ben was finishing breakfast and we told Alison to go brush her teeth. I guess Eliot felt lost without an instruction and went to watch Alison brush her teeth.
Alison was the only one who witnessed the fall, but somehow Eliot slipped off the potty and hit the back of his head. I heard the scream and ran so fast I almost left Colin on the changing table. It was our first really bloody experience in the Shear house. But I think at least one of these episodes is healthy for parents, because it shows you how you react in an emergency situation. Me, I freeze. I just scooped him up and held him. Ben came in, calmly looked at his wound and declared he needed stitches. See, we're a perfect team. I scoop and freeze and Ben makes a plan of action. Then my mommy brain might have kicked in a little too much. I started making plans to get Alison to school, get Colin to a friends house and then prepped any food or entertainment they might need. Alison must have felt my vibe because she started packing herself books to read and asked for special chocolates to munch on while she waited. Ben finally stopped me and said, "Just get in the car!". So our whole troop ventured to the doctor's office. 4 stitches and lots of tears later, he was good as new.
I struggled with feeling guilty the whole rest of the day. I kid you not, I worked hard all week "baby proofing" our home. It was the first time in 3 kids that I've gone to extensive measures to make sure everything is safe. I researched, I made to-do lists and I'm pretty sure I drove Ben crazy how much I talked about it. I'm not sure if it was because I've heard of some tragic stories lately or because Colin is way more determined than Alison and Eliot ever were, but I had this huge tug on my heart to make sure my kids were safe. One night I was sharing this with a friend and she asked me what I thought would happen, why I thought I felt this tug. And I told her I just felt like something was going to happen...and it did. My guilt came, not from the simple accident, but that I couldn't prevent. All the baby proofing in the world still can't protect my kids. I could follow them around all day and they will still get hurt. That's such a frustrating feeling as a mom. He wasn't doing anything crazy or naughty...like spinning his brother around in the exersaucer...yet he was still hurt.
The stitches come out tomorrow and I'm sure it's not the last time we'll see them in our house.
Just look at these two. I think we're in trouble.
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