I Would Post Photos, But My Computer Is Dead
I often joke about being a bad mother and winning the worst mother of the year award. Mostly I am joking. I don't think I am a particularly bad mother. Most of the time I think I am doing a pretty good job. I yell more than I want, I lose my patience more often than I would like, and occasionally say things that I later regret, but overall if there were a scorecard I think I would get a passing grade.
This past week my 11 month old baby burned his hand on our wood burning stove. I could make excuses and say that I told my older kids to keep an eye on him while I went to the neighboring room to wash my hands. I could say that I was only out of the room for a minute. I could say that he has never ever shown an interest in the stove or gone anywhere near it. I could make a host of other excuses, but when it comes right down to it, it was my fault. It is my responsibility to keep him safe. And I failed.
And to make matters worse, in my hysterics, I yelled at everyone else. Way to set a positive example and model self control! Look at me accepting personal responsibility! Go me!
I later apologized to everyone, but still I feel horrible about it.
Oh, and in the interest of full disclosure, I didn't have any Children's Tylenol in the house, so I gave him Children's Tylenol Cough and Cold medicine.
He is currently wearing a little fingerless mitten on his hand to protect the second degree burns. It doesn't seem to be bothering him at all, but it is heartbreaking. We have taken to calling him Michael Jackson and will spontaneously begin singing "Beat It" and moonwalking across the room. Yes, our family has a twisted sense of humor.
I'm clearing away a spot for the award right on the fireplace mantel. It can keep Lego Yoda company.
This past week my 11 month old baby burned his hand on our wood burning stove. I could make excuses and say that I told my older kids to keep an eye on him while I went to the neighboring room to wash my hands. I could say that I was only out of the room for a minute. I could say that he has never ever shown an interest in the stove or gone anywhere near it. I could make a host of other excuses, but when it comes right down to it, it was my fault. It is my responsibility to keep him safe. And I failed.
And to make matters worse, in my hysterics, I yelled at everyone else. Way to set a positive example and model self control! Look at me accepting personal responsibility! Go me!
I later apologized to everyone, but still I feel horrible about it.
Oh, and in the interest of full disclosure, I didn't have any Children's Tylenol in the house, so I gave him Children's Tylenol Cough and Cold medicine.
He is currently wearing a little fingerless mitten on his hand to protect the second degree burns. It doesn't seem to be bothering him at all, but it is heartbreaking. We have taken to calling him Michael Jackson and will spontaneously begin singing "Beat It" and moonwalking across the room. Yes, our family has a twisted sense of humor.
I'm clearing away a spot for the award right on the fireplace mantel. It can keep Lego Yoda company.
11 Comments:
Oh, ouch. These things hurt the mommies more than the babies somtimes!!
Mia almost placed her hand flat against the inside of the oven while I was removing a pizza. Big brother lept to the rescue, as my hands were full.
Danm, we need eyes in the backs of our heads with the little ones.
Some Native Americans believed in allowing their babies to crawl to the fire, because if they got burned, they'd never do that again. I'm not sure how I feel about it, but it's interesting, anyway. I wish I could remember what tribe it was - Sioux nations, I want to say.
When my son was just old enough to pull himself up on furniture, I turned my back to say goodbye to my sister and the kiddo fell, cutting the corner of his eye on the corner of an endtable. After I washed the blood off, I could see it wasn't actually his eye, but the skin *right next to it*. I felt terrible despite the emergency doctor's statement that I'd done things right and this stuff happens sometimes. The kiddo still has a scar there, although it blends in with his "eye-crinkles" when he smiles. When he was still crawling and at his dad's house one weekend, he put his hand flat on a heating vent in the floor and burned his palms. His dad didn't tell me about it; I discovered the welts on his hands by myself. Obviously my son has no memory of either of these injuries, but they linger with me and his dad. As parents, we all try so hard, and sometimes accidents still happen. Scary. I hope your baby is feeling better soon. You're a great mom and he won't even remember the incident.
Awwww, isn't mommy guilt the worst?
My almost 5 year old touched the hot grill outdoors during a birthday party a couple of years ago.
It happened so quickly that no one could stop her but I was still SO upset about it.
You are a great mom.
Your kids have a wonderful life and you should be very proud.
Stuff happens.
Aw, from what I've heard, you're a great mom. Poor little guy. I did something similar when I was a toddler, only everyone warned me. (Goes to show, you're damned if you do, you're damned if you don't - kids will do what they want.) I touched the radiator that I was warned not to touch. But you know what? I did learn something: it evoked my first word, "hot." So I was listening, I just didn't care.
You're an awesome mom, and that an accident happened does nothing to demote you or prove that sentiment otherwise.
Please don't beat yourself up. The baby could have got burned with you standing right beside him. I also would have reacted the same as you. My initial response is always to lash out at others. God, I just hate doing that too.
Anyway, judging by what I have read here in the past several weeks, you are a good mom. There, a nicety from a perfect stranger. LOL! What is the most important is you have a sense of humor. Calling your child Michael Jackson sounds like something we would do around here.
5 mins after being told "Do not touch the fan" I cut the skin on 3 of my fingers to shreds in it - then ran away and hid under a chair. My mum had to drag me out and to the hospital. I was more worried about how mad she was than anything. I think I was about 3. I survived only to set myself on fire playing with candles when I was 9. Got a third degree burn on my shin from that. Curiosity really does suck sometimes.
I hope your little man's hand heals well.
No one is perfect Chris. No one can watch the little munchkins 24/7. Accidents happen. It wasn't neglect. It was an innocent accident. And I doubt he will go near it again, that's for sure.
It happens to all of us. We all have scars from childhood and all of us as parents have kicked ourselves because of something that happened to one of our kids, even though it was an accident.
Hope he heals quickly.
((hugs))
Hope you both feel better today.
I'm sorry all around, but he'll get better and when you aren't modelling good calm behavior on the outset, at least you can model asking for forgivness. At least that's what I tell myself, because you aren't the only one who yells.
I agree with Jordana. I think that telling your kids that you are sorry is another crucial lesson. My parents would have just pretended like nothing happened, and I think that is worse. Hugs to you. Hope Miles is okay.
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