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Sunday, April 28, 2019

The Window

The Window
Just a quick trip on the way-back machine to April 2016
Most Grandparents worry about their grandchildren.  They worry because they don’t think their children know what they are doing.  They don’t think their children know what they are doing because when grandparents were just parents, they didn’t know what they were doing.
We look back when our own little ones were in need of protection and we sometimes failed. 


My oldest, my daughter, should have been killed or seriously disfigured because of our…ok, my incompetence.


I was cleaning windows in the spring.  The dining room window was one of those sliding things that came out to be easily cleaned on both sides, and then replaced back in its track.  I had pulled this window out and cleaned both sides when the phone rang.  Instead of letting the phone ring and finish putting the window back in its track, I left it on the sill leaning slightly onto the window frame. 


While I went to the phone, a seven month old Mary Beth was crawling around the dining room, to be close no doubt to daddy.   The next thing I heard was a loud crash, the tinkling of glass and the screaming of a child.  Apparently a gust of wind had blown the window away from the frame and it tumbled down to the floor.


I ran into the dining room in a panic.  If I had just accidentally killed or severely cut my daughter, my wife was going to be really angry.  I found my scared and screaming daughter smack dab in the middle of the broken window, surrounded by shards of broken glass.


She was frightened, but uninjured, uncut, not a scratch.  I ran and picked her up shaking like the proverbial leaf.  The window was directly over Mary Beth when it was blown over. It apparently hit a dining room chair directly on the top of its rail.  It shattered on the chair and the window frame came down surrounding my little girl but the glass shattered and fell also around but not on the crawling toddler.


They say God looks after drunks and little children.  On this day he was certainly watching at least one little child.


So, all you young parents, the reason your own parents don’t think you are capable of successfully raising a child is they know from experience that if you let your guard down for a second, stuff happens.  They fear you may not be competent, because they probably know the fact that you are alive to be a parent at all is a matter of their own dumb luck.  

15 comments:

  1. We certainly learn from our mistakes... I am so pleased this was not a tragic accident. Does your daughter laugh about it now?

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  2. Sounds as though SomeOne was looking out for you both.

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  3. Like Olga, I think there was help for you that day. It really is amazing kids survive parents or even themselves. There are some busy guardian angles out there.

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  4. The hand of God truly was on your daughter that day! My poor son. When the wee one was about 6 months old I got transferred to an account typing reports for children. Imagine all the terrible scenarios I was typing. Each danger I would warn son about. Don't have the wee one around fire because of burns I typed. Don't let him do this or that or watch this watch that. Thankfully a few months later I got transferred out of that account to the account from hell as I call it, but at least I'm typing adult things again. Its a wonder anyone makes it to adulthood with us bumbling around trying to keep them safe and not knowing half the time what we are doing (or what they are doing once they hit the teen years).

    betty

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  5. Every parent has examples of our failure to prevent every accident ~ luckily the majority of these are similar to yours, and no harm was done. But those incidents sure do stick in our memories, don't they?

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  6. She was meant to be unharmed, and you were meant to be jolted into awareness of your responsibility for keeping her safe. Seems like it worked.

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  7. It\s true....listen up youngsters...Cranky knows what he's talking about.

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  8. That sounds terrifying. I've tried to block out those close calls.

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  9. Oh wow. I'm just so glad this had a good ending.

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  10. I pinned the first diaper I ever put on my son to him. My other children were much luckier, as Pampers became more popular.

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  11. #1 Son had three trips to the ER, two trips to the doctor for emergencies, and 8 calls to poison control by his 3rd birthday, and that was with me trying to watch him like a hawk. Some kids are just meant to survive!

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  12. Wow...what a close call that was! I'm so glad she wasn't hurt or worse. Poor Dad! I was having a heart attack just reading this so I can't even imagine how you felt! I remember being so scared when we had our first child. It didn't help he only weighed in at 2lbs since he was 2 months early. I just kept saying to myself: "Heck, if poor people in Africa and other 3 world countries can keep their kids alive, I should be able to do this." He's 43 so I guess I did OK so far.

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  13. Parents! I was a bit peeved when after successfully raising two babies to toddlerhood, my mum sent me a booklet, (not even a proper book) titled How to raise your children. As a Christmas gift the year my third child was born. They all somehow survived my laid-back-go-and-play style of parenting while I read books with only one ear open in case of blood-curdling screams.
    I'm so very glad your Mary Beth wasn't injured though. Falling glass is one of the worst things.

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  14. I could tell you a story about how my oldest ended up in the ER because he got into my iron pills...

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