WWM – Official Title Holder

Wanna see an old lady run really fast?

This morning Adam fell off the bed. And all because I selfishly went to go make myself a cup of coffee.  I am indeed, the Worlds Worst Mother.

The OT said we should prop the babes up with cushions to encourage them to sit, which I did.  I propped them up with pillows and went to make myself some coffee.  The next thing I hear ‘thump thump YELL’. 

I ran faster than I have ever run before, screeching down the passage, bathrobe flapping madly in the wind – in fact I ran so fast I ran out of my slipper.

The poor child!  I felt terrible.  He cried for exactly 30 seconds, I cried for about 10 minutes.  I kept hugging him close and he kept pushing me away, wanting to see the TV so that he could smile and laugh at the presenter again*.

The poor child has a bruise on his cheek.  I had sweaty armpits, heart palpitations and that horrible adrenalin hangover you get after you get a big fright.

I am NEVER going to leave them unattended on the bed again.

*I am not sure whether it is because my kids are cared for by a black lady, or whether it is that kids in general love black ladies’ faces, but my kids LOVE to see black faces on TV.  Whenever a black presenter comes on the TV they give these huge grins. It is so cute. 

Comments

[Mare_Imbrium]

Poor Adam. Try not to feel too bad. My son has rolled off the bed through some misadventure or another quite a few times now.
More importantly, once they start moving around on their own they fall constantly. My son trips on absolutely nothing - apparently a change in the air current is enough to make him trip and fall. I remember when my sister first learned to walk her problem was that she was constantly bumping into objects - walls, doorknobs, dressers. My mom thought it was too depressing to take pictures of her because she always had a bruise on her forehead or a black eye. The worst though was when, at oh, 18 or 24 months or she ran, headlong, into a doorknob and fell down. The sound was just awful and we all cringed, waiting for her to start screaming. Instead we hear her hastily exclaim "I'm alright! I'm alright!" She was a character when she was little. And don't worry, she's an honors student now, so it didn't jog her brain loose or anything.

I'm not trying to belittle your upset, I just thought a funny story would cheer you up.

[kim]

Maybe it reminds them of Rose and it seems they love Rose too.

[Jean]

Aww, poor bruised cheek! Don't feel so bad, I once dropped my son aged a couple of weeks down two stairs! I was (stupidly) carring him downstairs in a moses basket when I 'let go' of one handle and out he rolled out like a swaddled sausage and bumped down two stairs bloodying his lip ever so slightly
He hardly cried but I wailed like it was a biblical scale tragedy.....and really his face is only slightly flattened on that side now....

[Katy]

Poor Adam but more importantly poor Mama! My three month old launched herself off the sofa last week and I cried and cried. She went back to sleep straight away. Damn her!

[missy]

In all seriousness, my dog loves and prefers to look at black people too. She will run up to anyone black and be totally happy and want to play, but is standoffish to any other race. We got her as a pup from a white lady in Wyoming.

[Boulder]

Oh poor Adam & poor Adam's mommy! You both had quite the morning didn't you?!

I watched my sister-in-law as she watched her young son go head first off the lawn chair onto the cement patio. There was that horrid slow motion moment where you cannot get to the child and you know what is happening. Ugh. Can make me weak in the knees simply recollecting that. Cannot imagine how you must have felt, and feel.

Can you do the same exercise with them on the floor on something soft so that you don't have to fret about which of them might tip next? I imagine that as they are more mobile you'll have your hands full with both of them on the bed. Could have happened with you in the room, if you'd been focused on Kate, I'd think. Merely me thinking aloud this last paragraph.

xoxo

[Boulder]

Have to laugh at "Mare's" comment - have a friend who's daughter STILL crashes around and we wait for the "I'M OK!" to be sounded. In fact, I cannot remember when she was last shaken up or hurt.

Hilarious to witness and be around, as they are sounded quite often!

[andrea]

Yep, done the fall of the bed thing here too!

[RainbowW]

you know that children do not fly.

i know that children do not fly.

children, however, do not know that children do not fly.

what's more, they believe, as they grow older, that it is great fun to climb to the top of high things (like the bars of the crib, the top of the bookshelf or kitchen counter, the television stand) and try to fly. however, because the entire world sucks, the quickly find themselves back where they started.

other exciting places to fall from:

-- the toilet. including the tiny training ones.
-- the couch. soft on top, hard on the way down.
-- mom's lap. i love her but why doesn't she put me down?
-- the dog's back. dogs are so much fun, especially when they get up to walk away.

what will happen here is that, in time, your children will learn that they do not fly. in the meantime, don't worry too much, but keep the carpet.

[colicmommy]

Wow, you really are terrible as a mother. Have you reconsidered? :P

Ah, the first of many. Colic boy rolled off the bed at 4 months. Don't they ALWAYS say not to put the baby on the bed? Did I listen?....

And then, at 12 months, he dove off the top of the porch onto a concrete slab below. About 3 feet down. On his head. Head first.

Um, then there's the time at 17 months when he was climbing down the stairs. He was great at stairs, so I let him go ahead of me without holding my hand. He fell down the entire flight. On his head again.

Ok, and then 2 weeks ago, when I shut his finger in the door accidentally?....um, he still talks about how much that hurt...

Dear god. I'm going to go into hiding from DSS now...

It's all good. Adam will get into a bunch of s*it, I can just see it!

[Heather]

My DD has fallen off the bed when she was a baby. I think I said the same thing.

[Dani]

I haven't delurked in quite awhile. But, here I am just to say that sadly you are not alone. My son fell off the bed an embarrassing amount of times. We moved and now have a Japanesse style bedroom where we now sleep a mere 6 inches off the floor. He now has the decency to not fall off, or just maybe I've improved. I never thought MY child would be one of those that fall. Well, praise God they bounce back just fine. I think God made 'em that way to help us out as we are learning the way.

[Melany]

At least your child didn't fall of the bed at 6 weeks!! Mmm and that at the doctors office, after his 6 week appointment!

[jane]

This happened to my son John when he was around the same age. He's okay and I'm sure that Adam is okay. You will find when you tell people what happened that it happened to just about everyone. Thankfully they are resiliant (and forgiving!) and everyone comes out okay!

[asil]

Ug! The first time they fall off is the worst.....

[Rori]

Yep, I'm pretty sure everyone has one of these stories. My sweet boy did a header out of the crib at around 9 months. He was starting to pull up, but we were being lazy and hadn't lowered the crib to the bottom setting yet. So he was standing in the crib as his dad was picking out his outfit for the day, maybe 3 feet away. Dad turns back toward boy just in time to see him plummeting to the floor headfirst. I heard baby's crying and and dad's near-hysterical "Oh my G-d! Oh my G-d!..." at about the same time. My boy was just fine, calmed down nicely - dad was a different story. He was late to work that day because he wasn't leaving the house without lowering the mattress in the crib. As anxious first-time parents, we did call the Dr. He told us that as long as he doesn't fall more than 4 feet onto a hard surface (as in not carpeted)we really don't have to worry about it. I've found much comfort in those parameters as my boy as fallen and/or bumped his head A LOT since then, but it's never been more than 4 feet so we figure it's ok.

[Rachel]

Welcome to the club Tertia!

Don't worry, Kate will join Adam eventually in this fun past-time.

Bah! Children! Thinking they can fly and all!

[Susan]

My daughter fell off the couch the other day. I left her for just a minute! She pulled herself to the edge of the couch, and as I entered the room, fell off, bouncing off the stool and hitting her face on a glass coffee table, leaving a bruise on her cheek as well. Then my cat attacked me, thinking that I was somehow hurting my child. I imagine it was quite a sight. My daughter screaming, me trying to comfort her, and at the same time, fighting off a snarling cat (who left big purple bruises where he bit me).

What have I learned? Well, not to leave my daughter unattended on the couch for one thing. But the other thing was that every mom I told this story to had several to match it, including my own mother. So, we can't be the world's worst moms, since everyone seems to have the same experience. I've also learned that no one is perfect, our children will survive, and things will be OK!

[Tessy]

Just wait until they start pulling up on things and learning to walk. It's constant head bashing!

[Stephanie]

Oh yeah. I remember the first time my godson, Hunter, rolled off the couch when I was watching him. I just leaned down to help his brother for a second! I felt so guilty! He also has a bleeding disorder, so I was SURE he was bleeding internally. Called his mom, had her rush home- she laughed, cause he was obviously fine. I think it was worse on me than on him ;-)

[Hazel]

Isn't it the most awful feeling?
My eldest is so bad that we were in the ER 3 times in one week, - two of those visits were during the same shift, we saw the same Dr and nurses twice in a shift! Very embarrassing. I'm ashamed to say that he had his first stitches at age 2 after he fell off his step stool in the bathroom and bit through his lip. I still feel guilty about that even though his Dad was within inches of him when he fell.
I definitely beat you in the WWM stakes!

[Jill]

My son never rolled off the bed. I learned my lesson when I was sitting for my girlfriend's little girl, and SHE rolled off the bed!

[Blondie]

No one ever tells you about their kids rolling, falling or crashing off of things because they'd rather argue about the CIO method or staying at home...

lol

My kid is a human wrecking ball...he basically runs and bounces off of things in general...his shins are always a nice spotted tan.

Not to sound cliche, but this is just the beginning...Adam & Kate will start pulling up on things & crashing...walking and crashing...running and crashing...

You can never be too cautious but at the same time, prepare for the bruising!

[Egg Donor]

PFFFFFFPHHHH. Off the bed. Thump. Pffffph.

I went down the basement stairs onto the cement floor in my walker.

Come back to me about the WWM thing when you have a *real* story.

;)

[halloweenlover]

Poor Tertia!!! I am positive it was worse for you than for Adam. He is such a PITA : )

Everyone I know has dropped their babes, or had them roll of the couch or something similar. I accidentally ran my nephew's head into the wall once. He is still brilliant.

[Nopenname]

My husband and I joke every time our two year old chucks her chin or knocks her head that "There goes that SAT score!" It's a frequent occurance. I second the tripping over an air current. She constantly bites carpet for no apparent reason. Her balance delicate, what with her giant toddler head.

My WORST mothering experience/injured child, was when she was around 2 months old snipped off a bit of skin instead of just fingernail and she bled, Oh my god I freaked out and ran around flailing saying, I'm a bad mom! I'm a bad mom! My husband had to get out of bed and come help me because I was just hysterical Lis cried for like 10 seconds, me I just sobbed and sobbed and I couldn't tell anyone what I had done without feeling teary for weeks afterwards.

[Ana]

My best friend had her son (~6 months) on the changing table with the strap on and everything so he wouldn't fall off the side. Well, he decided to scoot up and fell headfirst that way onto carpet. After a freakout session, everyone was alright. Cut to two years later, same changing table, different baby (girl this time). She was too young to be scooting anywhere so no need for a strap, right? Wrong! As soon as she turned her head, she heard a soft thud. Again, fallen off the changing table. We keep telling her if she has a third child, just as a rite of passage, toss that one off the changing table as well just to get it over with! :)

[Orange]

My son has fallen off the bed, head first onto hardwood floors, at least three times. What's comforting is when the pediatrician's office says the kid is OK as long as he doesn't puke more than 3 times in the next 24 hours. Felt like a champion mama when he didn't even puke once.

I've heard of kids who stare in shock when they first see someone of a different race, if they've only been exposed to their own hue. Your kids are probably just wondering if that person on TV might be related to Rose or Beauty. (The most common skin color my son identifies is "tan," which covers an awful lot of people in Chicago.)

[Ren]

Okay, I'm not sure I should tell this story, because I don't want to fuel your WWM thoughts, but I'm going to just in case in saves a tragedy from happening to any of your readers. (For the record, I think you are a wonderful mother, and this fall Adam had is no big deal.) However, it is quite risky to leave babies unattended on beds...although it is quite common. I'm a nurse, and the other day the hospital I work at had a DOA (dead on arrival) baby in the ER....the mom had put the baby down for a nap on her bed and the baby rolled off, face down into a waste basket that was next to the bed. The baby didn't cry apparently, and suffocated to death. Very, very tragic. So, my public service announcement for the day is this: if you must leave your baby unattended while not in a crib, leave the baby on the FLOOR. (Want to state again that this is NOT a judgement on you Tertia...you are an amazing mother and what happened with Adam happens all of the time.)

[Judy]

Get in line, Sister...I was the WWM first!

DS #1 rolled off the bed onto the HARDWOOD floor when he was about 9 months old - I had to go to the bathroom, we were leaving for my parents' house (just the two of us) and I FREAKED out when I heard the thud and the scream. Even stopped peeing mid-stream...yay Kegals! Anyhoo, he was fine, minus the huge knot on his head and I was a mess.

Enter DS #2, who just a couple of months ago at my parents' house (it must have something to do with them - I'm going to blame them, okay?) stood by himself for the first time on their back porch...then promptly planted his face into the cement - it was like watching a tree fall over. No hands out front, no knees buckling - just a face-plant into the cement. Welcome huge golf-ball knot of the forehead. I cried for 20 minutes while we tried to figure out what to do, only to have the nurse next door tell us he was fine - he bounced - and to just love and cuddle him a bit (which he didn't want - he wanted to play!).

So, take a number, girlfriend. I have 6 additional years of head injuries on ya!

[Dani]

Oh, Tertia.... you bad, bad, mommy! ;)

Eh, don't sweat it. We live and learn, right? You may never leave them on the bed alone again but I'm sure you'll put them in some other predicament that you didn't realize was dangerous until after they show you otherwise. It's all a learning experience. We think we are teaching them.... WRONG! They are teaching US!

I have 3 boys. Always covered in bruises, scrapes, etc. and if you can believe it, my friends razz me and call me "Safety Mom", lol! I've earned that title from:

-making sure they are padded from head to toe for every sport
-having them sunscreened from head to toe from April to November
-not allowing skateboards in my house... EVER
-no caffeinated anything
-paying $450 for a delivery of pea-gravel for under their play set. (6 inches deep... they could fall from the top of the 10 foot high fort without getting hurt.)

With all of this, they still zip around, like the boys that they are, getting bruised and banged. I can't prevent it all but at least I know I'm not being neglectful and I'm taking the proper precautions.

Don't beat yourself up for it. They'll beat you up plenty and there's no sense in overdoing it! :)

Oh, and yes, "Safety Mom" has let her kids fall off the couch a few times, too. :-0

[fitz]

My DD - 8 1/2 mos - fell off the bed last night for the first time as well. She cried for a long time. Just more scared than anything. It happened in a split second!

But yesterday morning I think takes the cake for the WWM award of the day. The spanish speaking sitter had found some new "wipes" and put them in the wipes box. She then realized they weren't good, but neglected to tell my husband and me. So there we are, later that night and yesterday morning, cleaning our beautiful daughter's tush with....CLOROX WIPES!!! You know, the ones used to clean toilet seats and bacteria-laden kitchen counters. We did that several times, until the next morning when she told me. Of course, I feel bad - I should have smelled the clorox! I felt terrible, but I guess she's got one clean butt now! I'm sure it's the first of many stupid things we'll do...

[bj]

OK, you're really a mom now. This was it, the final rite of passage.

Are there any moms out there who haven't had their child drop off of a bed? I've managed with both of mine (probably more than once). But, the incidents I remember, are my son falling of the bed when we were visiting his grandmother and my daughter falling off the bed on her first night in a big girl bed (when she was 2 1/2).

The author of the "Girlfriends guide" says that everyone has one incident where you are saved from a horrible disaster that could have happened. BTW, falling off the bed wasn't it. For the Girlfriend, it was her son grabbing a cup of hot coffee, which turned out to be cold. For me, it was my daughter walking with a picture frame, falling, and having the glass break into shards, but her avoiding all injury.

Watch out for that one when it comes.

bj

[Annie]

Everyone's kid falls off something, I swear. You have to do a lot more to qualify as WWM. However, it feels like shit when it happens. And it happens more then once and you will not be able to see everything forever as far as falling again. They will both get many owies!

[kari]

Oh my Gawd, I'm about to pee my pants reading all these stories! I have no babies, but I'm pretty sure my mom was vying for the title of WWM roughly 29 1/2 years ago... it went like this:

I was a few months old, with two older brothers ages 2 and 4... My mom desperately wanted to take a shower, so she put me in the crank-up swing, and told my brothers to keep an eye on me. About 30 seconds into the shower, just as she finished putting shampoo in her hair, my 2-year-old brother went into the bathroom and said "uh oh!" My mom raced out of the shower and to the living room (probably stark naked, but I didn't ask) to find me and the swing toppled over onto the floor; my 4-year-old brother trying his hardest to look innocent. Of course, having landed on the beautiful lime-green shag* carpet, I was fine. Or at least I think I was... I suppose the verdict is still out.

* Remember, we 'merikins don't use shag to mean what you do. "Shag carpet" is really thick, stringy carpet. Very popular in the 1970s.

[Tammy]

Can definitely relate to the falling off the bed story! Brody fell off our bed, which is rather high off the ground, when he was only one week old. Rolled off the bed, over a garbage can, into the floor. He never cried.

I cried for probably two days, certain that I'd damaged my poor darling for life. But of course, he was fine. These little ones are SO resilient! If only us parents could bounce back that easily!

Sending kisses for sweet little Adam's cheek!!

[Kathy]

Ah yes, motherhood is just starting to kick in. just wait until you have him in ER for his first stitches.

[Aurora]

Ah yes...every baby manages to do it at one point or another. My sister fell off the bed when she was a baby and my mom was so distraught about it that she picked her up and ran to the bathroom, knocking her head directly into an open cabinet. My sister is a genius...imagine how smart she'd be if she hadn't fallen and gotten knocked in the head? Ha ha. Still, they are tough and he'll bounce back. No worries. You're not WWM. That's reserved for people who leave their kids in closets in their own excrement (and yes, that really happens). You're a wonderful mother.

[Angela]

I did that once. I let go on my son on the changing table for an instant to get a shirt from the drawer for him. He had the buckle on too. And he planted both feet and pushed. He slid out from under the belt, off the end of the changing table, head landed into the opening for the diaper genie thing and then his legs flipped him off into the trash can (which was full) then face first onto the hardwood floor. I felt horrible. I called a squad. He was barely 6 months old. He was NEVER changed on the the changing table again. Never.

[Louise M]

Welcome to the wonderful world of bruises, stitches, broken limbs. Ahh.... emergency rooms. The only way that your children will never hurt themselves is by living in a giant bubble. At the age of two, I was walking across our kitchen floor, slipped, split my chin and got stitches. My DD slipped in the bathtub at 2, got the split chin/stitches, DS slipped in a friends tub at 3, split chin/stitches.
We all have the same scar. My older brother was an accident waiting to happen. My parents spent so much time in emergency, they were on a first name basis with the Dr's and nurses.

My daughter tried to fly at 9. The neighbours had a blown up waterbed mattress, the kids would sit on a corner, another child/teen would run and jump onto the mattress, the air inside was displaced, the person would go flying through the air. The kids had days of fun on it, until my daughter went flying, landed wrong and broke her right wrist (second to last day of school, summer vacation coming up) She spent the night in emergency along with another boy who had been leapfrog jumping some mushroom shaped lamps on the inner harbour causeway, both needed to be knocked out to reset their wrist/arm. Welcome to the joys of chilhood and perils of parenting.

[Margaret in Germany]

I didn't read all the comments, so I apologize if this is a repeat...

My daughter went throught the same thing with her caregivers...they were all white, and she FEARED all black people, which was discouraging (I'm 50% black, and her dad is 100% black). I DEMANDED a black caregiver onces she transitioned to the 2 year old room at her daycare. I felt better when the trainer at the daycare explained it as assimilation, which is quite normal.

Now, about Adam's little 'spill'...when my daughter took her dive, I rushed her to the ER. Once her Pediatrician arrived, he put me at ease with this...

'How else would she learn about gravity? I bet she'll never go near the edge again.'

And he was right! He DID learn something in all those years in college!

Adam: he will be fine. You: have another glass of wine...for Adam, of course!

[Ingrid]

Tertia, did I ever tell you about the time I left my first child in a stroller parked outside my front door? That was when we lived in a townhouse on a hill. I turned to make sure the door was locked, then turned back to the stroller - and it was gone. Gone! EEEEK! I turned just in time to see it careening down the hill, crashing into a sign and overturning.

My son's bruised cheek looked just like Adam's. No real harm, but it took me years to tell the story without dissolving into hysterics.

[Blanche]

Funny that you should be talking about babies falling out of beds when only last Saturday evening, I myself, a thirty year old woman, fell out of my OWN bed! Flat on my face, straight into the hardwood floor and the hard plastic hose for the vaccuum cleaner that happened to be standing nearby. My eye blew up to the size of a golf ball in seconds and now, almost 4 days later, it is as black and blue as can be! It's actually every color of the rainbow.

I'm sure the cashier at the grocery store today thought my husband had beat the heck out of me! So I can definitely sympathize with poor Adam! He's still adorable, though.

[Beth]

Don't feel bad, I rode my tricycle down the basement steps, landing face first on the concrete floor when I was about 2, and I'm okay, mostly... :P

[Mandy]

you're not the WWM - you have too much competition. :)

Upsetting? sure - but Adam's fine, promise.

[Christine]

I did the same thing as Beth, only in a walker. Got a few stitches below my eye, you don't really notice the scar except when I'm really tired...which is, um, all the time nowadays with my 4.5 month old.

I asked DH if he wanted to bet on which one of us would accidentlly drop her or bonk her head on a doorway or pinch her fingers in a door first. He was horrified, but, hey, it's happens to everyone eventually. You are so *not* the WWM, not by a long shot.

[Jaine]

Coffee? Yeah right. You need to stop drinking in the morning! ;)

You could NEVER be WWM. NEVER. I hope you're all feeling better.

[Anne]

Too funny about Adam and the tv, I have a reverse situation where I live. Granted being naturally blonde is rare enough but in Hawaii where most people are Asian or Pacific Islander (or some combo of either/all) blonde hair is really rare. I worked for 10 years at a locally owned chain restaurant and 9 times out of 10 if I was waiting on an Asian or Local family with a baby, well that baby would just STARE at me. I’m sure I looked strange to them, so much whiteness; “white” hair fair skin, it was so different from what they would see in their usual day-to-day world. I would always joke about it.

[projgen]

I'll give you a 9 for flapping-bathrobe-style and a 10 for heart-pounding-effort, but you lose points for losing a slipper. Really, you simply must keep your uniform on.

So, too bad, you only rank a 1 out of 10 for the WWM Olympics. You don't qualify. Sorry. Please try again later.

[Emma]

In regards to your last post....NOW you are a seasoned mother! Just when you start to feel like a pro...

My son rolled off the bench at swimming class at 6 months. I rushed him out to the lifeguards who proclaimed him OK. I never told my husband.

[Suzie-Q.]

Actually, i think my 95 year old grandmother holds the title as WWM when 78 years ago as a 17 year old mother to my father had to go to the store for milk. So, she propped up my dad in his high chair in front of the 2nd story, grated apt. window purposely so that passersby could watch and see the baby.
Well, the baby got so excited at seeing the passersby that he launched himself head first half-way out of the high chair, still stuck half-way in, smashing through the window, shattering glass everywhere, (cutting his face and arms) and into the iron bars where he was stuck and dangling!!
Upon her return to the apt. building she was so proud to see a crowd of people gathered around her window looking at her beautiful boy not realizing he had almost killed himself while she was gone and was now laughing, smiling and mugging for the crowd while he was upside down still attached to the chair thru the broken glass and iron bars!!!!!!!

T., maybe you should keep practicing.
LOL
xoxo

[Suzie-Q.]

BTW... i think you should donate your Bumbos to the Katrina relief effort here in the U.S. since you are obviously not using them anymore.

LMAO!

[maia]

My son rolled off the dresser we used for a changing table at 8 weeks. I had only turned my back for one second I swear :(( Oh the guilt only fueled my PPD let me tell you!
Or how about when I second'tairily (my word) let go of the twin stroller with my girls in it at 8 mos. In slow motion the damned stroller rolled off the curb into the street, daughters smashing heads on concrete, mother unable to right it in her panic. (Luckily some kind old man pulled over to help and girls were fine. Did learn that day that heads really BLEED from the ER doc. Useful information :(

So there you have it. We have all confessed our sins. Every mother is the WMITW, we are only human right? Give him an extra big hug and kiss and move on!

[maia]

Oh one more. Please. I once babysat a 10 month old and never thought twice about letting her crawl on the deck outside their home. Bad move. 2 minutes before mom came home I realized baby was covered in at least 5 million splinters :(( Crap..

It happens to all of us. Just keep repeating that!

[Kez]

Can't be WWM. Only one of them fell off the bed.

Why is it always Adam giving you the grief? Boy is he going to be fun as a teenager.

BTW, my mother is the only person in my entire family that doesn't have a scar on her head somewhere from a fall as a baby or toddler. I tripped over a vacuum cleaner onto the edge of a brass bed. Must be why I'm mortally afraid of vacuum cleaners to this day :)

V. glad Adam and Mommy are both ok.

[Meg]

Don't worry, he'll get you back when he's 17 years old and you're up all night because he's not home yet and you haven't gotten a phone call but he saunters in the door at 4am acting like he's done nothing wrong. I know because that's how I got back at my mom for letting me roll off the changing table!

[Diane]

4 month old daughter here that rolled off the bed- and we had the same advice as Orange's ped- only a problem if they puke 3 or more times - you can imagine the fun when she puked 2x and we waited breathlessly to see if we had permanently damaged her!

Happens to everyone it seems- but still makes you feel just awful! Both of you will be ok. Promise.

[shana]

Oh, I can sooo sympathise! My at the time 8 month old daughter fell our bed (only 2 feet above the floor) and I totally freaked-out. Now, this was not the first time this had happened (twice before with Daddy sitting right there!) but then I thought she was acting strange so I dialed 911 and sat in almost hysterics in my front yard waiting for the ambulance to show up. Must have been a slow day because the neighborhood fire department came as did an ambulance. The scene: my in a panic, a perfectly fine by now little girl, 8 huge firemen and 2 emergency workers surrounded by every neighbor on our street. Oh, and we had just moved-in to our new house that morning. Way to tell the neighborhood that you are a great mom! Of course everyone told me that this happens all the time despite the warnings to not leave them on beds unattended.

[wheelomatic]

Well, T, this probably won't happen to you, but my mom had all 6 kids (ages 14 mos to 11 yrs) in the ER in a 4 week period one summer. Child Protective Services did visit but realized that we were just busy outdoors kids, we were all fine and shit happens.

For the record the visits were for:
11 yo boy swam with eyes closed into wall of public pool, resulting in 5 stitches in scalp.

10 yo boy fel while running in yard, hit face on sprinkler, resulting in 4 stitches on cheek,

8 yo boy ran hand down conveyor belt at grocery store and got fingers stuck in the end, resulting in dismantling of the equipment, bruising and swelling but no stitches,

6 yo boy somersaulted over bike handlebars after hitting car parked in driveway resulting in sprained wrist and scraped forehead,

3 yo girl pulled high chair over on her resulting in 3 stitches in forehead,

and me, 14 mo girl, walked in front of a playground swing (with a wooden seat) that was being pushed, empty, by a neighbor and was clonked in the forehead resulting in 5 stitches above my right eyebrow.

No wonder my mom drank.

But we are all upstanding, college ed-yoo-muh-cated, tax-paying members of the community. So there.

You are G&D *not* WWM. Adam has forgiven and forgotten. Be that good to youself.

[KatynotKate]

My son, after running into the wall full speed because he took a corner too tight while chasing his older brother, turned, looked at me, and asked, "Why am I always hurted-ing myself? Maybe because I am 3?" Trying to hold back the hoots of laughter while being pretty impressed at his insight, I said, "Yes, dear, I suppose that's it." He said, "Ok," and tore off after his brother again. In that short time I could already see the red knob growing on his poor little head.

The point? Babies, esp, boys I think, BOUNCE. And they forgive and they forget. Adam is fine, you are not a terrible mom and it will most likely happen again. And you are gonna laugh about this later.
'Sokay, really.

[Lily]

that is not a bruise, it's just a red mark.

which I've already inflicted on my 6 wk old when she was 4 wks courtesy of clonking her head on the doorway.

oh, that's not the only time I've done it- it's just the only time it left a mark. sigh. six. weeks.

[juliette]

Oh my gosh Tertia you are a laugh!!! I mean it was awful what happened to darling Adam but he is fine and that is good! The photo of your abandoned slipper had me in hysterics!! I am so glad he is ok though. These things happen and are a timely reminder! Jake has had the odd fall and so on; it is bound to happen. One of his nurses told me when her son was a baby he fell off the change table and broke his leg; how bad would she have felt! You are a wonderful mother and don't forget it. Hugs; Juliette xx

[juliette]

also forgot to tell you; Jake woke at 5am Wednesday Aug 17 absolutely burning up; but I didn't know to give him panadol or anything; half an hour later he had a fit and I had to call an ambulance to take him to hospital. He is fine but I felt so bad as I should have known to give him Panadol to bring his temp down!! Now on top of my guilt I have a $700 ambulance bill as I had forgotten to include him in our ambulance membership; I am most definitely the WWM!!!