Reason #156 – Yet another stranger tries to save my son’s life
Reason #156 – Yet another stranger tries to save my son’s life
May 06I love our building. The neighbours are lovely, the toy-filled courtyard keeps C busy, and the fact that there is a lift AND a rubbish chute takes this place beyond my wildest dreams of comfort and luxury.
The place is so child safe it’s ridiculous.
With one minor exception.
Trust my child to find the one dangerous spot and to make it his favoured playground.
So a few days ago I was quickly dropping some shopping bags in the kitchen with the front door open while the boy ran around the corridors (did I mention we live on the second floor?) when a neighbour knocked on the door, holding C’s hand.
Me: “Oh dear, has he been naughty? Did he pick your pocket steal your lunch amble into your house?”
Lovely neighbour: “No, no, not at all! I just found him in the stairs, and…”
Me: “Was he about to jump off the rail?!”
LN: “No, no, he was just climbing down, but stairs are so dangerous!”
Oopsie. Guess letting the kid romp on the stairs while I sort out the shopping is not good parenting.
Damn.
We’re moving to our very first not upstairs apartment at the end of the month — the end result being that my son can ROCK those stairs. He stumbles sometimes, and falls occasionally, but he holds onto the rail and has a blast.
That said, I can understand the fear. If my son is being a butt about coming upstairs and my hands are full, I’ll go up without him — 9 times out of 10 he follows, and knowing that I’m not there to catch him just hsbfhsdjbghjabfhjdbsg.
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ofthesea Reply:
May 7th, 2011 at 11:54 pm
I love how your son intervened to type his opinion on this delicate issue!
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People who don’t have direct continuous contact with toddlers tend to forget how resilient, and exploratory, they are. (S)he’ll get used to it.
Pernille recently posted Var det noget med en locums karriere
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ofthesea Reply:
May 7th, 2011 at 11:55 pm
Ain’t that god’s truth!
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Holy smokes! A live ostrich sighting, and in your own building. You’ll be able to study them in their own habitat. Do you feel like Jane Goodall?
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ofthesea Reply:
May 7th, 2011 at 11:55 pm
It’s like a safari every day!
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Huh? I mean, I’m older than his mom, and I almost fell down the stairs the other day stepping on my damn flared pants. Should I get some supervision?
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ofthesea Reply:
May 7th, 2011 at 11:56 pm
My point eXACTly: if anyone is gonna fall down those damn stairs, it’s gonna be me!
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I get that all the time. For the last three years we have lived with stairs – the first year we had a second floor, the next two we lived on the second floor (stairs inside the door). We had one baby gate the first year. It was used to block the then one-year-old from the computer room; not the stairs. The next two years we had two baby gates – one to barricade an easily accessible window (which both our oldest can open), one to block off the kitche; not the stairs.
Because I start teaching stairs the instant they are mobile (I don’t want to buy another gate), by the time they notice stairs at other’s houses they’re pros. I get so much judgment for not feeling the need to supervise their climbing. Especially from grandparents. My son is 4, and has only fallen a couple of times – both short distances, both while I was on a rare occasion directly supervising.
But people can’t get past the bad parenting. Go figure. :-)
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ofthesea Reply:
May 7th, 2011 at 11:57 pm
My answer did not help put her at ease at all: “Oh, he plays there all the time, he’s a pro!”
Still, better than “Bah, kids are made of rubber!”
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Brenna Reply:
May 8th, 2011 at 6:08 am
Well, they do have rubber-like qualities – unless, of course, someone is idiot enough to gasp or ask if they’re okay, or even just be looking in their direction with a concerned expression… I try never to notice when my kids fall or get bonked, so they’ve become tough cookies. My niece does not get this awful parenting experience, so she cries traumatically at the teeniest bump.
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MCallipari Reply:
May 10th, 2011 at 12:53 pm
We have a very tall flight of 13 stairs so I am worried about my 19 month old falling, but oddly enough, even though he has fallen (twice), it’s been from the bottom step, not the top. :)
ofthesea Reply:
May 14th, 2011 at 8:49 pm
Relax – even if he falls, babies have 7 lives, like Mario and Crazy Birds.
Stairs? Dangerous? Pah.. he could’ve been playing with plastic shopping bags over his head…
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ofthesea Reply:
May 7th, 2011 at 11:57 pm
While juggling chainsaws!
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