First children...they're the test, right? They are the kids you test your parenting skills (or lack thereof) out on and you feel good about yourself when they turn out to be upstanding citizens, or at least when they turn out to never have seen the inside of the county jail. I'm sure my parents were shocked when their oldest son turned out normal (and less shocked when their youngest daughter turned out perfect).
Sometimes it's hard to admit your parenting failures. Some are obvious, some probably won't reveal themselves until long after we're able to do anything to correct them. But Eric and I have had a few slip-ups, and a few that have left us feeling that Brady has a guardian angel watching over him...and us.
The first happened when Brady was about 5 months old. Eric had gotten home from work and was changing his clothes. I was in Brady's room and heard a thump. The thump wasn't followed by any crying, so I wasn't concerned. However, when I walked in, I was met by a shaken-up husband. He had placed Brady safely in the middle of the bed he Eric went into the closet to hang up his belt. However, he had underestimated the ability of our non-mobile infant to become mobile rather quickly. He came out of the closet to find a Brady heading for a face-first face-plant off our very high bed. Eric dove and caught Brady before he hit the ground. Eric acquired a well-earned floor burn and Brady demonstrated a fearless streak that has not left him since.
Our parental flaws were most recently revealed this past Monday night. I'll set the scene: Sleep training had begun and I put him down earlier than usual (hoping he'd wake earlier than usual). He was crying, as he sometimes does, but I knew he'd put himself to sleep eventually. Instead of going downstairs with the monitor like we normally do, Eric and I stayed upstairs, jumping in the shower after our evening run and putting away some laundry. As we walked out of our room to head downstairs (Brady still not asleep), Eric stopped and told me he smelled something burning. The smell was evident as soon as I got into the hallway, so I immediately went downstairs, thinking I'd be met with flames from the kitchen. I wasn't and I came back upstairs. Eric had walked into Brady's room and found the source of the smell. We had bought a space heater for the winter months - it was still plugged in and pushed up against Brady's crib. In his anger about being put in his crib, Brady had stood up, reached over, and turned it on. And what we were smelling was burning wood. From the crib. Which our baby was sleeping in. It had reached 87 degrees in his room and no doubt if we hadn't walked in, the temperature of the room and the crib would have increased. It took a while for visions of a crib (and baby) in flames to leave me.
As I sat there rocking my sweaty baby, we thanked God for his obvious intervention. The craziest thing that we still can't explain is the smell. Our room and the stairs are down the hall from Brady and it would follow that if it was strong near our room, the smell closer to Brady's room would have gotten stronger. But it wasn't, and I'd even say it was less evident. But outside our bedroom, a safe distance from Brady's room, the smell was unmistakable.
And why were we upstairs anyway? We so rarely stay upstairs after Brady is in his crib. That's our time to quickly escape and veg on the couch. If we had been downstairs, how long would it have been until I had gone up to check on Brady? With sleep training on my mind and video monitor in hand, I was intent to let him work it out on his own and I very hesitant to go into his room as my presence usually gets him more worked up.
So we are thankful. We hate to cash in our chips so early, but that is certainly how it feels. I am not a worrier by nature and don't plan on turning into one, but it's times like this...when you think about the "what-ifs"...that you feel crippled as a parent.
So unplug your space heaters and hug your babies closer tonight, except hopefully yours are in bed until morning.
Just typed a long comment that I think I accidentally deleted...sorry if this posts twice!...Anyway, wanted to say that I'm so glad everyone is safe, and I understand the feeling of sick relief you're describing. When E was 2, we had to have a 2 day inspection of the addition to our house. The inspectors neglected to tell me part of the drill was filling a tub full of water and letting it sit for 24 hours to make sure it wouldn't drain. It was the tub right next to E's room, and there were definitely times that day when she was in her room on her own, with easy access to that bathroom. If she had ever gone into the bathroom, the completely full tub would have held immediate playtime appeal and been an absolute death trap. Hooray for guardian angels. Angel of God, stay with us for the duration, please! (And yes, I explained my *concern" to the inspector later...as calmly as I could but with a sense of urgency I couldn't stifle and didn't want him to miss!)
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