Confession time: I have officially experienced my worst parenting moment so far. I "so far" very seriously because I am painfully aware I will have many, many, MANY more to come. Sadly far more upsetting than this one. Looking at the pictures you are probably thinking,"upsetting? what is upsetting? Russell looks so happy and curious!"
Well a couple days before these pictures, I had placed my precious son on my bed in our room while I was getting dressed for the day. I have a small bedroom. I was literally less than 10 feet from him. I was in front of our mirror-not the bathroom mirror but the dresser mirror. I had just told myself, "you know, Russell is rolling so much these days, I should put him on the floor...." Just as I thought that thought the unthinkable happened....
Yup. My sweet boy rolled off our bed. Right. In. Front. Of. My. Eyes!
I gasped. Then screamed. He cried. I cried even harder! I apologized profusely to him. (I offered to call Child Protective Services on his behalf to report myself). The Nurse in me knew he was fine, but the Mommy in me was devastated. Crushed. Physically ill. Russell isn't much of a crier by nature and to see/hear him cry after this was torture. He didn't even have bump or red mark on his body! I think it mostly scared him-and me!
Once I recomposed myself and did an injury assessment we continued on our day. Our relationship has been restored. Russell seems to still trust me as his Mother and caretaker! Good thing-sometimes I wonder if I can be trusted! :)
So now I put him in the laundry basket and fill it with his toys. He isn't crawling yet, but he scoots and stretches to get to where and what he wants. I have caught him with electric cords among other items I don't approve of. So Russell gets to hang in the basket while I shower or am cooking or doing chores around the house. Basically anytime I am not able to devote 100% of my time to his actions. I am totally paranoid now! He seems content for now. I especially like the bottom picture where out big fat cat, Samson is laying on the table where I just folded the CLEAN laundry that was in the laundry basket that is Russell's "jail cell" (as Brian calls it). Guess I better get myself to Target for another laundry basket or two!
That is a great solution Emily!! I'm still putting Caleb in his crib for playtime and he's still loving that too, so if he grows out of the basket, you could try that!! : ) He looks so happy!!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad he's liking the "jail." :) Someone of the older generation (maybe Great Grandma C.?) once said that every baby has to fall off the bed at least once in order to develop properly. Not sure where the logic is in that, but I know each of our kids has done it at least once (feel terrible every time! you'd think we'd learn...), and they're all developing nicely so far. :) Glad Russell wasn't hurt!
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