Be Careful What You Wish For...

Just last night I was racking my brain trying to think of a good blog post. I read through the dozen or so drafts that I have started and nothing really resonated with me. None of them were funny enough or touching enough to really make the cut. I left them all there, though, because sometimes those blah ideas turn into something. I will be laying in bed or driving down the road and I'll think of just the right punchline to pull it all together.

But that wasn't the case last night and today. I was suffering from a singularly uninteresting couple of days. We'd gone to the gym and to the park. We watched some TV and we danced in the rain. We ate, drank and slept. Not bad days, just, you know, regular days.

This morning we had a playdate at a friend's house. It was a mini-reunion of several of us that had taken Mommy and Me swim classes together last year as well as other moms that have joined the fold over the months. My friend has a pool and it was to be an afternoon of mom talk and kid play, all of whom are within months of each other.

Sophie went into high gear the moment we arrived. As is necessary with my little daredevil, I kept a fairly close eye on her, but mostly contained as she was within the confines of the deck and the fenced-in yard, I truly didn't worry too much. Famous last words.

About twenty minutes after we arrived, I sat at the patio table talking to my friends while Sophie tooled around the patio on one of those little four-wheeled riding things. This one happened to be a fire engine. At some point, the son of the person who's house we were at started pushing Sophie on the fire engine. We all smiled and thought it was cute. Sophie beamed.

It was right about then that several of us realized how close they were to the stairs. Just as I stood up from my chair to go redirect them, Sophie went over the edge. In slow motion, I watched her go ass over teakettle on that blasted fire engine down the stairs. It was only three steps, but it was enough for Sophie to do one full revolution and come down square on her face on the concrete step at the bottom.
















She lay on the ground, NOT MOVING, as I ran over to her. I was terrified she had broken her neck, but it was quickly apparent that the only real damage was to her face. She cried, but not frantically, and I took her inside to clean her up. After a few dabs with a wet paper towel and an attempt to hold a cool pack to her forehead, she was squirming and pointing outside.

She spent the rest of the afternoon running, climbing, playing and generally having a good time.

Me? My heart still hasn't slowed down to a normal rate.

Next time I'll just be satisfied with my boring day.