I'm Lindsay Ferrier, a Nashville writer with a passion for family travel, exploring Tennessee, and raising kids without losing my mind in the process. This is where I share my discoveries, along with occasional deep thoughts, pop culture tangents and a sprinkling of snark. Want to get in touch? Use the CONTACT form at the top of the page.
July 15, 2008
>Hubs and I were chatting a few days ago, when he casually stopped talking, grabbed something from Bruiser’s hands, then turned back to finish the conversation.
He was holding an enormous butcher knife.
“I just looked over there and he was waving it around in the air,” he explained. “I didn’t want you to panic, so I just quietly grabbed it. But man.“
“That was the knife I just sharpened, too,” I said quietly. “Oh. My. God.”
You’ll note that there was no screaming in this conversation- No shrieking or sobbing or holding Bruiser close and kissing the top of his head.
Frankly, this shit happens all the time.
And we’re not bad parents, either. That butcher knife was up on the kitchen counter, far enough from the edge (or so I thought, anyway) that Bruiser shouldn’t have been able to reach it.
It didn’t matter. It never does. The little dude has an extraordinary ability to find Trouble the minute he enters a room, at which point he goes for it. Consequently, I find myself rescuing him from certain disaster on a near-daily basis, making miraculous saves and then calmly continuing about my business. If Punky had had even one of these experiences as a toddler, it would have become the stuff of family legends. “Remember that time when Punky climbed up the telephone pole and just stood there on one foot until the fire department showed up and got her down?” I’d reminisce, years down the road. “I cried for an hour afterward.”
In Bruiser’s case, though, we’d probably forget the telephone pole incident in a week or two. It would doubtless be trumped by the time he toddled his way into the car, started it, and backed into the neighbor’s house, or the way he climbed up the chimney and got stuck. None of these things have happened yet, but I wouldn’t put any of it past him.
It can be exhausting keeping up with a boy who courts disaster with such tenacity. I try not to think about it, but sometimes I can’t help myself. We’ve prevented him from seriously injuring himself so far, but I worry that we can’t always maintain a 100% success rate. We’re only human, after all. Some day, I’m afraid, he’ll fall and I won’t be there to catch him.
And I realize I’ll carry that nagging concern with me not just this weekend, when I’m in San Francisco and Hubs is home alone with the kids, but for the rest of my life. Who will save my son when I’m not around? Who will catch him when he falls? Who could possibly love him as much as I do?
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>That’s so sweet.I’ve got a little man who is two. We’ve had furniture oil, Lysol, knives, scissors, furniture hopping and so on, all in the name of adventure. I have that same fear as you, the part about 100% success rate. Good luck!
>Ack! I am with you! I, too, will be in San Francisco this weekend leaving DH ALONE With Baby Boy for the first time ever. IT is also my first time ever leaving Baby Boy!I am so nervous, but I want to have a good time…. Ugh..
>I’ve had a few of those ‘grab the sharp knife from the wee one’ moments lately, too. Knives they NEVER should have been able to reach, by mysteriously seem to get to.Shudder.I’m so green you’ll be in SF… sigh.
>Wow, you just got me all choked up with that last paragraph, and I’m not even a sucker for this parenting talk. 😉 I can’t even imagine trying to keep up with a kid. Much less a kid who finds trouble all the time. Yowza.
>When my son was 18 mos, we realized that the house was quiet (too quiet) and went looking for him. He and his then 3 year old sister were popping bubble wrap in the kitchen . . . with steak knives. Jamming them into the bubble wrap (and the floor, I might add) with glee. I honestly don’t remember if we freaked or not, it was a bit shocking. I think we took the knives away before any freaking ensued. I will say, however, that they are both SUPER careful with knives now, thank goodness!
>Oh that is so us.Except that my son, the oldest, was the easy one. I can still tell you in great detail about the ONE time he had blood gushing from his face. (Cue bawling from Mom)But my daughter? It’s just old hat at this point. She has her own box of bandages in the bathroom.
>When I was going through my “THERE IS NO GOD AND YOU CAN’T MAKE ME BELIEVE” phase I ranted at my mom for an hour about how she could KNOW there was a God. “Simple, I’ve had 8 kids and none of you have died doing the things you do.”Now that I’m a Mom, I get that.(Okay, that’s totally not to be callous to those of us who have lost a kid. You kind of have to know the psychotic things we did.)
>The counter tops! I feel as though my daughter must have grown 3 inches this past month, because all of a sudden she can get her little fingers up onto my cutting board, where I, you know, chop things shaped like little fingers.And where does she want to be while Daddy is in the kitchen chopping things with that huge knife? Right underneath the cutting board, reaching up.
>My daughter R. is like that. As a matter of fact, I just wrote on my blog the other day about her encounter with an electrical socket. I worry every time she steps out of the house without me or the room for that matter. She definitely can find trouble.
>There’s a reason my 15 year old’s moniker is Danger Boy. Just remember that whenever you head to urgent care or the e.r. to pack a bag with water, granola bars and reading material.
>Yeah, one day I looked over at my 1 1/2 year old son and he was putting my husband’s razor in his mouth. I don’t know HOW he got it off the bathroom counter at the time, but I grabbed it and luckily no harm was done.On that note, I’m sure Bruiser will be fine.
>Our near tragedies come in two major categories most of the time , category one is self-inflicted by child, category two is unintentional by Daddy, like the time he left 3 & 5 in the RUNNING car to dash inside and the car was GONE when he ran back out. It had rolled ACROSS AN INTERSECTION and ended up a block away against a curb.. talk about Oh. My. Gosh! Subcategory two is of course me.. things like after driving around for 45 minutes and not realizing that while baby IS secured into the carseat, carseat is NOT secired to the car!
>Crying now. *sniff*
>Our soon to be 2 year old has been known to court doom on a regular basis as well.His older sister was less of a danger to herself. I think it might be a boy thing (largely).Congrats to Hubs for being alone for the weekend with the kids. Is it his first time?I’ve done it too numerous times to count. I spend time at work praying I don’t get called during rounds for fever or injury, but other than that, its fun.
>I watched my nephews overnight this past weekend and I was a complete wreck during bathtime. The 1 year old kept throwing himself around and trying to climb up on the side of the tub… argh! I was just praying that they’d avoid major injuries on my watch!:) Beckyhttp://www.stinkylemsky.typepad.com/
>I hear you! My youngest son is a little daredevil. I’m constantly trying to protect him from danger. My husband and I always say that his little angels work overtime!
>Oh man, I’m so glad it’s not just me. My sweet boy is just a little over 6 weeks old and I think of this ALL DAY!
>The Girl can now reach the middle of the kitchen table….which is where I — USED to drop my purse. It now goes to the top of the dryer….for now. And she can reach the drawer where the measuring cups etc are. The top drawer is the next one up and it houses the forks and such….not looking forward to that!
>Oh boy! Thinking about letting go of my boy is frightening, too. Luckily for me (I think?) though, my little guy is very timid and cautious. I told a girlfriend the other day that he’ll probably never (oops, did I just say never? I think I heard lightning strike) break any bones because he’s too cautious. We’ll say. I hope I don’t have to eat my words someday!
>This affected me on so many levels. Thank you for a beautiful post.
>There is a small part of me that thinks the ER is in my husband’s future this weekend. But maybe that is because he failed to notice a chocolate bar in his naked baby’s hand before he put him in the backpack?
>I will pray for your son because somehow I think your hubs is gonna need it. I have seen children do the craziest things. It really is amazing! And no one will ever love your child as much as you do. NO ONE!
>As a young lad, I always managed to find the edge of disaster, if not cross the fine line and start the process into the maelstrom.But I survived it. Three concussions later — two from those halcyon days of fearless inquisitiveness — I am a middle-aged, healthy, (ab)normal adult male who baits email scammers, chases tornadoes…uh…what’s Bruiser got in his hands now?
>LOL. I’ve given up worrying about broken bones/stitches etc. and am now focused simply on keeping my son alive. 😉