Disaster struck on the weekend. It was a small 'd' disaster, but a disaster all the same. My active 18 month old was enjoying her favourite pastime - climbing a chair - when she slipped off and caught her face on the corner of the chair. At first it seemed that her lip had been split open, but after a quick examination I realized that she'd dislodged a tooth...one of the front two. In about a minute the tooth was in my hand, root and all.
I felt like a terrible mother. But after retelling the story many miserable times (almost always while sobbing) I started to accept what people were telling me - it happens. You can't wrap toddlers in bubble wrap to protect them from the elements, they're just going to get hurt and they'll get over it. In fact, Mabel recovered far quicker than I did. I'm still heartbroken over the idea that she'll be missing one of her front teeth until she gets close to the age of six when the adult ones start coming in. Mabel was back to happily playing with her Elmo doll five minutes later, while I just stared at the tiny little tooth in my hand.
So I want to ask other parents out there, what's YOUR 'small d'disaster story? Come on, tell me.
— Lisa Brooke, Writer
Reader Comments
Small "d" disaster.....here's my disaster....mother of 2 @ the time. Ty was 2/ half yrs and Jordan was 9 mos old...we decide to go camping and take the tent, pack up the ol' minivan and off we go just about a half hour away....we set the tent up get settled and Jordan is ready to eat...and my 2/ half yr old is having a temper tantrum....I set Jordan on the picnic table to sit down with him to feed him in his car seat...(at this point he has never so much as moved about before) well the day had finally arrived...I turned around for a sec and (I was sitting right beside him)...well he flops out of his car seat lands on the seat of the picnic table and teeters back and forth I just could'nt catch him and does'nt he land on the metal rail under the picnic table 9 mos old with the biggest goose egg ever....I was freakin'...We went to emerge and got him checked out ..he was just fine....but did I ever feel like a horrible mom....He does tend to be like his mother and terribly clumsy...oops...maybe he hit his head harder than I thought....the therapy bills are gonna be huge...P.S> there were 3 thunderstorms that passed by that night...it was an awesome camping trip...now we only stay at hotels :)
Posted by: Theresa on January 22, 2009 08:00 PM
My little boy had chipped three teeth by the time he was 2 years old. He's now four and a half and has had stitches 3 times!....I should also mention that he caused his sister to have stitches once too. I have three kids and as much as I'd like to blame my parenting sometimes, my other two (who are girls) just don't seem to get into the same predicaments as he does. I think I can blame all the grey hair I've acquired in the past few years on his adventurous nature!
Posted by: Maggie Doyle on January 30, 2009 12:07 AM
oh dear!
I'll start off by saying that I don't have children but I remember being one. The lessons that I learned about life came not from listening to my mother but doing exactly what she told me not to and paying for it in the end. I still carry a few scars from stupid accidents but i think i would be a lot worse off if i hadn't learned about the ins and outs of living through my own stupidity.
I think it's very important to make sure that your child knows that he or she has loving arms to go to when they fall rather running and hiding becuse they are afraid of the consquences.
You will never be labelled a bad mom because your kids get a couple of cuts and bruises here and there. Little ones come in tough packages and bounce back a lot quicker than people seem to think.
Posted by: jl peterson on January 31, 2009 03:42 AM