On My Watch

Every child gets boo-boo's... 

More accidents happen in the home...

 It's a right of passage... 

 Whatever, whatever.

 I know all these things. 

I do have a fourteen-year-old who is bigger than I am that has not only taught me a few things about parenting, but who has also taught me how resilient children are. 

So, my word vomit below has everything to do with the fact that the Little Monkey got hurt on my watch, as opposed to a "my poor baby got a boo-boo spiel". 

 I almost feel sorry for new caregivers we encounter, because I throw a ton of information at them - and harp on safety, safety, safety. 

 However, in the confines of our home, I catch myself - from time to time - allowing the Little Monkey a little more freedom, (such as listening to music in her room while I fold clothes in the laundry room).
I want her to have some semblance of independence, but days like this are a bleak reminder of the reason I am always on guard.

Monkus is great at getting boo-boo's, but it is the ones directly related to her developmental delays

and

the ones that happen on my watch
that get me.

TMI...and you have been warned.

We were rushing to get ready for the day, when I took Monkus and helped her onto the potty.
Chris was a few feet away, as was Julien.
I had to run over to the other bathroom and in the 60 seconds that I was gone, Monkus learned she couldn't fly.

The best we can figure out is that Monkey must have tried to get down from the potty all by herself and completely forgot that she had to step down.
Although she is making progress, she still requires one on one assistance.

AND, she always tells me when she is "all done", so I cannot figure out what was different this time.

We think that she just went to take a step and fell face forward because when Chris heard the noise, he looked and saw her laying face down on the tile.

She did not cry.

I was right behind him and her little eye was already swelling like crazy.
It wasn't until Chris told Monkus that he was going to get an ice pack, did she start to cry.

The picture so does not do it justice.

After the round of ice therapy, we went ahead with our plans for the day.

I gave Monkus pain meds when she started to show signs of discomfort, but in all, she had a great day.

She is amazing and so tough!

The main potty area for Monkey is set up to take every safety precaution into consideration.

We have the perfect sized potty rails with an attached step stool,

and potty seat.

The only thing is that  Monkey has been doing so well, that we decided to remove one handrail about a year back in order to force her to gain a little more independence instead of relying on using two handrails.

With me always by her side, it has been working quite well, and without incident...

until the one time that I thought my bladder was going to burst and I just couldn't wait a minute for Monkus to finish her turn.

By bedtime, her eye had turned a painful shade of purple.

Of course it could have been so much worse, but I feel so bad for her.

Addie started Spring Break Camp today and she had a great day!

I don't think she even thinks about her boo-boo throughout the day, but I do.