You Guys Do This, Too, Right???
Lately, I’ve had a small concern in the back of my mind. I have a strong suspicion that the Department of Children and Families may take my children from me. Why would I have such worry? Well, let me tell you about the past three days…
Friday I was up at my school cleaning out my classroom. I had Bean and Gracie with me because I thought I’d only be up there for a little bit (I was way wrong about that, by the way…). Gracie was sitting in her car seat playing with some toys and I decided to move her over to where I was working. I went to pick up the car seat, but apparently the handle wasn’t snapped into place. When I picked up the handle, the whole car seat rocked forward, catapulting Gracie forward. She landed on the floor, face first. Thankfully, she wasn’t that high off the ground when she fell, but she was still mighty ticked off.
She, of course, started screaming bloody murder. Two of the teachers from next door came running in to see what was wrong, but I didn’t want to tell them that I had basically ejected my daughter from her car seat, so instead I patted her on her back and said to them, “Gas…” They nodded in a knowing way and headed back to their classrooms and Gracie didn’t speak to me for the rest of the day.
Then, as if that wasn’t bad enough, there was another incident on Sunday.
This past weekend we had Bean’s birthday party, which I’ll blog about later this week. Some friends of our from Connecticut made it down to celebrate with us and we got to spend some time with them and their adorable daughter. It was so nice to see them. When I moved to Florida, Catherine was pregnant with her daughter, but I left before she was born. It was so fun to finally get to meet her in person!
Bean thought so, too…
Anyway, we went to Downtown Disney to walk around and let the kids see everything. We were in the Lego store and Bean was walking with Chris. I had Gracie in the double stroller and I was walking with Catherine. All of a sudden, a woman tapped me on the shoulder and pointed to my stroller.
“Your baby is falling out,” she said very calmly.
Sure enough, I’d forgotten to strap Gracie into her stroller and so she had slid down in her seat until she was just about to fall out the bottom. Her feet were almost touching the floor. Oops.
Then, as if that isn’t bad enough, we were shopping in the very next store (where Bean morphed into Buzz Lightyear)…
…when suddenly my stroller hit something and I couldn’t go any further. When I looked down, there was Bean. Hanging out the front of the stroller. He had apparently been trying to get down by sliding out, but had gotten stuck. And then I hit him with the stroller. It took three people to get him unstuck. And, of course, all of this happened while my sweet friends and mother-in-law stood there staring at me with a distinct look that said, “How have you kept these children alive for so long?”
So, yes. I am waiting for a call from DCF any moment now. Until then, I’m trying to stay as far away from my kids as possible. It’s really for their own good.
35 Comments
Waiting for Bulgaria
Don’t worry you’re not alone. But man am I laughing. My son slid out of his stroller too when he was an infant. And just the other day I put him in his carseat (he’s three and a half) and hopped in the car to drive off when he said “mommy you didn’t swtap me in” (say it like Elmer Fudd). He was trying to do it himself but he just couldn’t get it. My favorite has nothing to do with my child’s safety but it does say something about my sanity. When I was leaving the hospital with him, I forgot his name. I couldn’t remember for anything, and the nice older lady that was pushing me out kept asking me. I was so embarrassed. Just chalk it all up to mommy brain.
Krista
Yes, I do feel that Child Protective Services are always on their way to my house too. I’ve had more then 1 child fall out of a stroller, down the stairs, and my youngest has had to have poison control called more times then I care to admit. Luckily, they seem pretty tough – it probably helps that I am a tearful wreck everytime I call poison control right?
Lee Ann
Reminds me of the time a male friend and I were babysitting another friend’s young son (approx. 2 yrs old). When Cute Child woke up from his nap, Male Friend said he’d take his turn to change the diaper. Which he proceeded to do … until Cute Child told him in so much toddler language that the diaper was on wrong. And of course, Cute Child was correct. Needless to say, we told Cute Child’s mother that if he was old enough to know the diaper was on backwards, he was old enough to be potty-trained! (By the way, LOVE the last photo where the two girls are looking at each other. A picture is worth a thousand words!)
Natalie @ Queen of Whirled
When my daughter was 3 weeks old I had her in the carseat, but not strapped in, while strolling around the mall. Of course I forgot all about the not being strapped in part when I clicked the carseat back into the base in the car. It wasn’t until we got into the house that I realized she’d been unbuckled the whole ride home.
The thought of it still makes me queasy over 2 years later.
Diana
The hubby strapped Jellybean into the car seat once with his legs through the loops too so he rode like a frog the entire time. I couldn’t figure out why he was sitting so high up. My sister’s youngest ate a light bulb. I think we all have our moments…
Tracy
I am in stitches! What happened is not funny, but man, the way you tell it had me laughing so hard I almost cried. I totally feel your pain! This weekend I got the Mother of the Year award for not realizing I wasn’t completely in the shade and figuring it out too late so my 12 week old daughter got a minor sunburn on her little cheeks. I have beat myself up about it all weekend and was terrified to take her to daycare this morning for fear of what they would say. I’m sure I’m not the only one this has happened to, but still… doesn’t make the guilt go away!
Tracy
I was sitting under a tree… I should have clarified. That sounds so stupid, but honestly, I thought I was in the shade!!!
Jen S @ SappSweetStuff
Hahahahaha… I don’t have kids so I can’t relate. But I laughed out loud picturing Bean hanging out the front of the stroller! Whoops!
Krista
Oh, the things I have done are too numerous to count…BUT if it makes you feel any better, I showed up at a group picnic with napkins stuffed down the front of my shirt to catch the sweat dripping down my chest. I had stuffed them in there during the car ride, and in my haste to unload the kids, I forgot to take them out. Someone kindly asked, “What is that?” just a few minutes into a nice group conversation I was having and I pulled the sweaty mess of napkins out from between my boobs. Just stuffing my bra folks. Oh, and this just happened last night. 🙂
Ashley @ A Recipe for Sanity
LMAO. Oh God. I don’t have kids, but I DO have friends at DCF…I’ll tell them you were just having an off day. :p
Jen at Cabin Fever
Haha. Good lands. I remember when my youngest sister was a baby and she had similar things happen to her. I was in charge of watching her once for a few minutes while my mother did something and had to pee so bad. I laid her on my bed and surrounded her with stuffed animals thinking she wouldn’t roll off the bed during the two minutes it took me to pee if I barracaded her in. Sure enough, as soon as I was in the bathroom, I heard a massive thump and then crying. It took her four seconds to roll all the way across the bed, through the animals, and onto the floor. She was fine. My mom was mad, and I still had to pee.
It happens to us all 🙂 Cabin Fever in Vermont
Nikki
I have a funny story now that wasn’t too funny then. I apparently was a brat when I was younger and I had a counselor at school that was nuts, not a good combo. I didn’t appreciate that my parents weren’t giving me enough attention and when I told the counselor that, she tried to manipulate it into cold hearted neglect. CPS came to investigate, and needless to say my Mom’s Momma Bear came out and the counselor was fired not too long after!! See, it’s not so bad!
Amy
The stroller thing happened to me too when my son was little. We were shopping at Michael’s and I was pushing the stroller and hit a bump. I looked down and their was my son hanging half under the stroller. I moved so fast to get him buckled in, hoping no one spotted us.
sherene
I am so sure you don’t mean any harm to you’re kids, and don’t feel so bad dearest because you are not alone, count me in lol.
nylse
Child, please!! this comes with the territory…i once had 2 children with broken arms at the same time…it wasnt my fault though…now this would have been mighty hard to explain to DCF (or whatever the entity is called)…
so yeah…this happens!
Nigeria
I believe my mother has topped you. She told me a story once that I just thought of. When I was just a few months old we were at church. Afterwards she had me in a stroller at the top of the church stairs. She didnt realize that my stoller wasnt locked and it rolled backwards down the stairs. When she rushed down to comfort me, I was laughing and she was hysterical. Later that day, we went to my aunt’s house. This time she had my stroller near the porch steps. Again she forgot to lock it and my stroller went flying backward down the stairs. Another time when I was much older, we took my baby brother to the mall to go shopping with us. He was in the stroller while we were looking at shoes. When we turned around, he was gone. The stroller was there but he wasn’t in it. We frantically searched the store and found him hiding under one of those seats with mirrors on the side and refused to come out while people watched. I guessed that’s why strollers have seatbelts.
jessica
I’ve had an umbrella strolled collapse on a 10 month old I was babysitting…..
Britt@knewlywifed
I thought I was the only one!!!!! I always thought everyone else had it all together. My husband and I look at our 7 month old every day and wonder how he’s made it to 7 months with us as his parents!
Jordan
i was laughing out loud on this one. i don’t have kids yet, but when i do, i promise this will happen to me. and then i’ll look back on this post and feel much better… 🙂
Mary
I wouldn’t be too worried. When I was 3 days old, my mom put me into a swinging bassinet and left my dad in charge while she took a nap. He was curious to see how far the bassinet would swing so he pulled it up sideways and I tumbled out. Then he told mom that he had no idea why I was crying. Like I said, I wouldn’t worry. I’m 22 and a college grad and I still love my parents. I think I turned out ok.
Audrey
This should make you feel better: When I was a baby, my mom had me in my “lounger” on the kitchen countertop. While she was cooking, I managed to bounce my way to the edge and topple face-first onto the linoleum floor. Needless to say, I was not a happy camper.
Kat @ Living Like the Kings
I hear that kids are extra durable to withstand their parents’ oopsies 🙂 So far I’ve scratched Peanut’s head, cut off a TINY piece of her finger while clipping her nails…I’m nervous
KatieO
I HAD to reply, just because of the Buzz hat. I returned home from my honeymoon just last week and brought home that exact hat for my 2 year old nepehew as a present. I warn you, he LOVES that ridiculous looking hat and refuses to take it off. He now wants to wear it everywhere…but ONLY if Buzz is facing forward.
Sara M
Definitely not alone! Our first was under 6 months and he rolled off the changing table while my husband was changing him. My husband was so scared that he had hurt himself…wanted to take him to the hospital he works at and do the x-rays himself!
Mindee@ourfrontdoor
Just last week I was in charge of my 2 yo nephew when he bit the dust and got the wind knocked out of him. I felt terrible about it, but my sister reminded me that she dropped Reagan on her head at about the same age.
Emily
Just to make you feel better. I just picked up my 3-year old from camp. pulled in the drive way and she says.. mom you didn’t buckle my seat belt.. awesome! mother of the year ballot it filling up!
Rebecca @ The Reluctant Housewife
I think that officially makes you like every other mom out there! I think I’ve forgotten to buckle Zoe into her carseat a dozen times, she’s fallen out of the front of her stoller at the dogpark, once she fell off the table {out of her carseat} and she’s only 10 months! I have guilt trips over them…but she doesn’t even seem to notice!
Jess M.
About four years ago, I was in London at the Tower of London, and I saw a very tall man, carrying his baby, about a year old, literally drop his baby…. The kid literally almost hit the pavement, but the dad, I kid you not, caught the kid (falling head first) by his food right before he hit the ground. I am still traumatized to this day but the man did not even flinch!!
Jess M.
* Sorry that should have been carrying his baby.. on his shoulders!!
RJ @ Kids and Cast Iron
No worries! It happens to us all at some point. I remember the first time I hurt my baby girl by smacking her head into the edge of the door. She screamed bloody murder and I am pretty sure I cried too!
Mairs
My son was born April 8th (my due date was the same as yours but I went late. Needless to say, I was very jealous of you going early!). I propted him on a pillow on the couch so I could run to the bathroom. As I was coming back I saw him roll off and hit the floor. Thank God it’s carpeted and not a very far drop. He did scream bloody murder though and I felt like the worst mom ever! You’re sooo not alone my friend!
Nicole
One time when my son was probably 2 we were driving on the expressway, about 5 miles from home. My husband saw something cool or whatever and says, hey Jake! Did you see that? My son turns ALL THE WAY AROUND in his carseat and stood up to look out the back window! Yeah, we each thought the other had strapped him in, neither one of us did, obviously.
Cindy In Owensboro, KY
These types of episodes happen to us all, it’s what makes us “human”. I remember one time I went to take my son’s infant seat out of the car and realized that I had been driving around with him unbelted. Another time my exhusband thought that I took him to the store with me but he was propped on the couch and after I left he did a “nose dive” off the couch. So don’t worry about it, you are a great mom!
Amanda H
I work for child services and there is NO WAY that we would take the time to investigate something like that. It happens to all of us overworked and overtired mothers. Although those kids are cute enough maybe I will just take them home with me. 😉
Alyssa
Hahah I’m sure it was really embarrassing when it happened and it might still be a sore spot for you, but it’s really funny to me. I bet this happens to everyone, but the difference is that you’re bold enough to tell the whole world about it through your blog.