The Mini Van Soap Box

My husband and I have spent the better part of our holiday weekend just wishing the spawn would sleep a while and feel better. In my last post - I had JOKED that the way she was acting we were running very short on patience and were seconds away from killing her.

What happened over the next two days - has led me to believe that I will never makes jokes like that again!!

Shortly after I posted on Sunday I decided I just had to get her out of the house for a while - sick or not - get her some sunshine and play and hopefully run her until she slept from total exhaustion. So, I packed up some snacks, sippy cups and her "baby soup" (bathing suit) and headed for Grandmommys house. Moms next door neighbors are friends of ours, and their little one goes to school with ours...so they came over with towels in hand as well. While the husbands sat on the bench and watched the frolicking, the moms headed into the pool and spent the better portion of an hour and a half playing the "jumping game" with the kids.

The 'jumping game' is a pretty simple game. Put the child on one of the lower steps of the pool, stand less than a foot away and have the child "jump" into your arms. It's really more of a take a step off the step and mom picks you up. But THEY think it's a freakin' riot. So, we play. Every so often the kids want to switch parental units, so I would "catch" the other child and she would "catch" mine.

After a while - the game got a bit boring I suppose for the kids, so they spent some time just sitting on the step and playing with some bath toys. This gave my friend and I some time to talk about "mommy" type o' things. She's VERY pregnant you see, so I was catching up on the latest news of no sleep, hemorrhoids, and doctor visits when out of the corner of my eye - My child disappears.

Seems as though my child had decided it was time to start playing the jumping game again - but didn't think it was important information to share with me. What felt like a lifetime to me - but was only probably half a second - my kid is sinking to the bottom of the pool. I ripped her out - and turned a very lovely shade of gray I was later told. Once I had her out of the water - there was a moment of silence - and all the OTHER adults started to clap "Yea...You went under water". I'm standing there clutching my wet rat of a child looking at all of them like they are crazy - when I get this "look" from my mom. It dawned on me suddenly what every one was doing - "Hey Dork - Let's not make her afraid of the water!"

OK, I get that. And I'm certainly glad that the other folks were there to jump in for me since my ability to speak was none existent. No, I don't want her to be afraid of the water. I would like her to be a LITTLE afraid of the water - but I could have done a lot more harm than good if I had gone with my gut instinct. My husband told me later in the car that I handled it well - which I guess after a moment of terror I did.

But wow - that one second scared the shit out of me.

Let's now fast forward to this morning.

Today is her first day in a new class at school. She's no longer in the toddler/2 year old class. She's in preschool. New teacher, New Room - on the OPPOSITE side of the building than her last class. I knew this morning was going to be a hard transition since she LOVED her last teacher so much....So, I've been hyping up today for about a week. How exciting it was, How great her new teacher is (never met the women before this morning), How much of a big girl she is..etc, etc.

So, still moving a little slow because of the before mentioned cold....We finally get to school and I unstrap her, get her bag, and reach down to take her hand to walk into the building - where she then pivots on me and takes off like a rocket. Once again, in a span of two days my heart just stops dead. She came within seconds of getting nailed by a maroon Honda accord.

This is my child - always has been. I've tried to explain to people why we don't let her run free in unprotected areas...but they don't ever seem to believe me. While I was on a ride my sister lost her for a short time once in Walt Disney World....It's very easy to do. She has no fear. And she's fast. The husband and I are the people who have to invest in baby leashes - and get pointed out and chastised because our child isn't a dog....Well...sure....We know this.....Shut up....Your kid is ugly.

I will say this - that car was going WAY too fast for a daycare parking lot. I don't know if he's actually a parent or was just breezing through our parking lot - but if he IS a parent - he's a moron.

That was my last two days in a nutshell. Her first day of preschool did not necessarily go the way I wanted to because she and I had to have a little "chat" on the sidewalk about running away from me and that cars will hurt her. Lots of hugs - and "you scared mommy"....

So, there it is. I was kidding. It was joke. I don't think I'll be making jokes of that nature anymore - because I really feel if my heart stops one more time it's not going to restart again.