Too Much On Boobaby’s Plate
Posted on November 2nd, 2007 in failure, faux pas, fears
Boobaby got a fat lip last week, and I’m entirely to blame.
- I could have kept her inside where all our household surfaces are made out of Play-Doh. Then she’d never have gotten hurt.
- Or I could drop her off at the steak knife and glass shard factory with a sack lunch and come back for her next day.
Obviously, I opt for something in between. You’ll remember that I wrote once about how I try to simultaneously support Boo’s her risk-taking while keeping a firm hold on her. She’s getting older, though, and I find myself needing to let go more often, to let her push her limits just a little farther each day. I walk a precarious line between being an overbearing parent and an unconcerned one; on an average day I run the gamut from risk-averse to riskophilic. (Oooh, I like that. I’m a riskophile!)
This is where it started. I guess I shouldn’t have let go. |
Walk a fine line, though, and you’re likely to fall now and then, and that’s just what Boo did, off the swing, on her ickle face. I wrote it up over at GNM Parents yesterday:
…at the height of her swing on that last fateful ride, I asked her “After this, do you want to go look for bugs?”
“Bugs?” Boobaby bemusedly glanced over to the bug-laden lawn and shouted “Bugs!” in agreement. The effort distracted her just long enough to allow the swing to slip from her grasp, her momentum carrying her flying into the air unsupported. Aghast, I watched as Boo careened to the ground, proud despite my terror that she caught herself with her arms and rolled into the fall.
Sound awful? Well, it was. Check out the entire post and you can discover just how awful and how I processed it afterward. (In case you’re worried, I think, in the end, I suffered mentally quite a bit more than Boo did physically.
Yeah, I Twitter, don't laugh. 
November 2nd, 2007 11:41 am
Hope she heals up quickly. We’ve had two visits to the ER in the last month or so — a cut above the eye and a fractured arm. Both Tau-self induced! So Boo is is good company!
Yeah, I know — they do it to themselves and all. I think I get guilty because I think it’s my job to protect them — I definitely have a strong streak of helicopter parent within me.
I’m doing my best to quash it, though!
Dd.
November 2nd, 2007 1:08 pm
How many stories start that way? “I only looked away for a second and a herd of mountain lions surged over the side of the playground wall!”
Good things kids are durable. I bet you are totally right, you’ll remember it more than her.
Wow, you guys get mountain lions, too? I thought that was just our playground.
Boo’s funny — if she’s well-rested and fed, she’d probably beat off the mountain lions on her own. If she’s sleepy or hungry, she’ll freak out at a simple bump on the noggin.
Luckily, fat lip day was a good sleep day!
–Dd.
November 2nd, 2007 9:12 pm
Aww hope she heals quickly. No need to beat yourself up, tradegy seems to occur in all of parenting woes. When my oldest was about 4 months old I nearly cut off his finger (at least in my own mind) when clipping his tiny nails. I nearly had a nervous breakdown, however my son survived without incident. LoL. Love the photo!
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