Aiming for progress, not perfection.

"...being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you
will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."
Philippians 1:6

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

stairs: a whole new ballgame.

so i've been running around like a mad woman, emphasis on mad, today to get ready for the graduation reception after church this evening.

(you are reading the time stamp correctly. i am blogging about 10 minutes before services starts. because of my madness, i'll be lucky to make the reception tonight. service was just too much to ask. unless it's OK to go to service stinking, in sweatpants and with tear-stained cheeks.)

let's just say i found out a little bit late that i was to be in charge of the reception and what exactly i was required to do in order to prepare.

add in a 15 month old, a 3.5 month old and the fact that i'm 7 months pregnant, and the likeliness of a smooth-running day is nil.

anyway, we were tying balloons when i discovered that stairs are my new enemy.

ellie has just recently figured out how to crawl up (read: UP) stairs, but, until today, would just stand on the edge of said stairs and whine until someone came to rescue her. it was not yet an idea in her pretty little blond head to attempt going down stairs.

she was playing on the stage while we were tying balloons on the floor. it seems the temptation of balloons was enough to give her the courage to try down.

all i saw was a contorted body and flailing limbs followed by the sound of hysterical crying.

after letting out what i'm sure was a ridiculous, desperate-sounding "Jesus!" i scooped her off the floor and ran into the hallway. by the time i made it out the youth room doors, i was sobbing. harder than ellie. much harder.

i went to the sitting area where i checked her for any broken bones or bleeding through my tears. she calmed almost immediately while i continued to sob.

it was so scary and that combined with my exhaustion and frustration over the day was just too much. it was a bone fide breakdown.

she looked at me like i was nuts until delana came to remove her from the danger by taking her to the office.

i realize this is just the first of many tragic accidents, most of which she will undoubtedly survive with nothing more than a scrape. she does have a little one over her right eye from today, in fact.

but i'm gonna have to get tougher. it's that or a heart attack. i was terrified.

NO MORE STAIRS.

or mommy's gonna go into labor from stress.

what a stinkin' day.

7 comments:

Meems said...

It really is some kind of task to prepare for events and have little ones. I know exactly how you feel.

Not so long before you came here, I was actually involved(believe it or not). It didn't take long after Josh was born before I realized that for a while my involvement would be limited or insanity would follow.

You probably have much better cooping skills than I do. Plus the big D to help you out. I hope you get some rest this evening.

By the way, I love the pool. Anytime would be great.

La said...

yeah, i'm about to put all my kids in plastic bubbles. we've had so many injuries lately it's just ridiculous.

i hope the reception ended up ok - i remember being quite frazzled the first year i did it too. =)

A's Rich Life said...

:( sorry u had such a rough day...

we've always taught our boys to go down the stairs backwards. (just like crawling up them) this way, if they do slip, they don't go tumbling down head first. ;) hope this helps.

crys said...

are you sure it was the balloons that tempted her or seeing a certain 2-year old jump off the stage?? =)

JAC said...

Our girl (Jane) taught their little boys to go up and down stairs - up - not a problem. She would have them turn around and go down very slowly. One of the little guys would get on his belly and go flying down the flight of stairs - fun to watch, but kinda hard of Bacamama's nerves.

Monique said...

I think all of us mothers have those stories!!! I watched Matthew ride a little tike train down a flight of stairs and when I got to the bottom, he and the train were upright and he was holding on to the whistle part of the train for dear life ........screaming...... I also watched Krsitin pushing a a little kids shopping cart toward that same flight of stairs, when in slow mo I noticed the gate was opened.... to my horror......her whole body leaned on the shopping cart and started down the flight of stairs Her whole body went tumbling head over "shopping cart" until she landed on the bottom..... Needless to say I believe to this day that is the fastest this body has ever moved! Screaming child & sobbing mother sat at the bottom of the steps for a long time!!!! Thank goodness my GOD protects! And trust me I don't think I ever forgot to lock that STUPID gate again.

Susan said...

As long as everyone is giving advice, I'll give my two cents. Take her back to those stairs and sit down at the top. Then show her how to scoot forward and down to the next step, moving her butt to the next stair and her feet will shuffle to the stair after that. Keep practicing until she gets the idea. Let her go to the top and then show her how to start down from a standing position. Sit, scoot, shuffle, scoot, shuffle, scoot, shuffle, etc. She's a smart girl, she'll catch on quickly. Tell her I love her and kiss her boo boo from me.
Mom