This morning, Camden and I were hanging out with Matt in the bathroom while he got ready for work. I glanced at Camden's bouncy seat which has been sitting in our bathroom for months now and said to Matt, "You know, it's time to retire this seat. He's too big for it. I'm going to stick it upstairs in his closet."
Don't get me wrong-- Camden doesn't still use his bouncy seat like he did in the first couple of months of his life. He certainly doesn't sit in it and stare at the animals dangling from the arch overhead. In fact, I don't even bother putting the animals on that seat anymore. The only time he uses the bouncy seat is while I shower. I strap him in it, hand him a few toys, and jump in the shower. He's only a few feet from me at all times & I can easily see him from the shower door. This has worked well for us over the past several months.
Then came today. Even though just hours earlier I had mentioned to Matt the need to retire the seat, I strapped him in it one last time while I took a quick shower. As I closed my eyes to wash the shampoo out of my hair, I heard a loud, ear-piercing scream followed by hysterical cries. My heart racing, I jumped out of the shower to find Camden completely toppled over, lying on the floor, still strapped into his seat. We have a rug on the bathroom floor, but of course Camden just missed it and landed on the hard tile. I scooped him up quickly, shampoo still in my hair, and hugged him tightly while his sobs faded to whimpers.
Within minutes, he was smiling and playful again, but I am still racked with guilt. Why on earth didn't I stash that seat in the closet upstairs like I told Matt I was going to do earlier today? And why am I still using an infant bouncy seat when I have an extremely active (and strong!) 8 month old anyway? Close to tears, I called Matt, my mom, and my sister and asked them to reassure me that I am not the worst parent in the world.
Anyone else want to share their not-my-proudest-parenting-moment to make me feel better? Or you can tell me what a moron I am for not packing away a newborn bouncy seat like 4 months ago. Either way.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
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9 comments:
Don't be so hard on yourself - it happens to every parent!! When Olivia was co-sleeping with us, I jumped out of the bed really quick to grab something (mind you she wasn't yet mobile) however, I heard a big thump! She had managed to roll off even with her immobility. She was completely fine, but I felt HORRIBLE!! I think it is a right of passage as a parent :)
You are not the worst mother ever. Trust me.
One time, I was going to take Brayden on a walk, but the stroller was in the back of my Expedition. He wasn't old enough to sit up on the garage floor, and I didn't want to put him in the car seat just to get the stroller out. SO, I pushed everything to the side of the way back of the car, put him in there with my hands blocking him in, and he STILL fell out while I was trying to get the stroller unfolded. He was thisclose to hitting his head on the concrete floor. Talk about a meltdown.
Take a deep breath. Kids are resilient, and it wasn't intentional. And once you get this one out of the way, it won't be so hard when they start falling all on their own.
Don't be so hard on yourself. This is a minor thing compared to what you will do. Anyone forget to pick up their 4 year old from preschool?
Totally not your fault Momma, these little guys always keep it interesting on us!
And yes, those are teeth in my little mans mounth, they sprouted at 4 months! Lucky for him, not so lucky for his breastfeeding Momma :(
The good thing is that he'll never remember it. :)
Um, I ran a head into the closet door when I was way overtired and should have been paying closer attention to what I was doing(can't remember if it was Sam or Anna's). Ooops.
Aww, I don't have children yet but I have a feeling that I would have totally put him in the seat one more time.
Like I told you, just brace yourself for the many bumps and bruises to come. This one (that I know was scary & awful at the time) didn't even result in a bruise! Just wait and see all of the damage he'll do to himself now that he's mobile! :)
And as for stellar parenting, didn't I tell you when I was holding Will the other day, I bumped his head on the doorway? And Will isn't even mobile yet! This was ALL ME. Man, did he cry hard for a few seconds. I felt terrible.
All mommies make mistakes. And all the good ones learn from them. :)
No mom is perfect and every mom makes mistakes. I put our little one in the middle of the bed (where she never roamed from at the time) while I ran to the bathroom to quickly pee.. and then I heard a boom. She rolled off.. ugh.. we all have our moments but we learn from them. Have you tried putting him in his exercauser in the bathroom while you shower? I got away with that for a long time. :)
I knocked a towel bar off the rack and it landed on Kennedy's head, because she was placed exactly where you placed Camden! I knew it was loose, but didn't think it was that loose. She cried and then I cried and I called everyone, too ;) I still feel guilty but am understanding that these things do happen and LO's are tougher than we sometimes think.
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