Today, I wanted to share a few of the surprising things I've dealt with as a mom. I can look back now with laughter, but at the time I was calling my mother, whispering little prayers like "God, help me", and "Googling" to see if anyone else had been through the same drama. By the way, it does make you feel better to google because it is true,"there is nothing new under the sun." (Ecclesiastes 1:9).
1. When toddlers get away from you, it's surprising how quickly they can get themselves into trouble and make a mess. When Jenna was little we lived in a very small house, so I knew where she was and what she was doing most of the time.
One day she got very quiet, which is never good at that age, so I went looking for her. I found her in my bathroom with the doors to the cabinet under the sink open. She had gotten into some of my old make-up and had opened up some red lipstick. Jenna then proceeded to color the floor, the bathroom rug, and herself. It must have been the all day wear kind of lipstick, because it didn't want to come off easily. Of course, I had to mop the floor and scrub her in the bath. But, even though I've washed the rug more than a few times, it still has the stain. I've actually grown rather fond of the stain now, and it makes me smile.
2. Similarly, Carissa, my then twenty-month-old, found some Vaseline sitting on Jenna's night stand. For whatever reason, she thought this was like shampoo, and completely doused her hair in this gooey glop. She must have gone around the room after this, because I discovered Vaseline on almost every surface, including the carpet.
Well, let me tell you, Vaseline is a force to be reckoned with. If the United States ever needed a new tactic on attacking terrorists, I would highly recommend they drop large Vaseline bombs right on top of cities.
I put Carissa straight in the bath and I probably washed her hair fifty times, to no avail. Vaseline and water is like oil and water. One website suggested baby powder and that just made a paste. Someone else suggested Dawn dish washing liquid and that didn't work either. We even tried baby oil, which compounded the problem, and by this time, Carissa had four different products in her little white hair and it was sticking straight up on top of her head.
We soon discovered there was nothing we could do, so she had the wet look for about a week until the oil finally soaked into her scalp. The carpet was finally cleaned two weeks ago and the stain is now gone.
3. Last night we were out to dinner and I found a penny lying on the ground. I gave it to Jenna and we were both happy she was going to put it in her piggy bank. When we got home, she walked in before me then turned around with her hand on her throat and a terrified look on her face. She had swallowed the penny and it was stuck in her throat.
I panicked a little, not ever having heard of such a thing happening. My husband, Jason, told her it was okay and got her some water, which helped the penny go down into her stomach. She was in tears, saying "My penny, my penny." He settled her down and told her it would just come out the other end. I was shocked at his calmness, until he informed me that he had once swallowed a quarter. Go figure.
No comments:
Post a Comment