david's first fall down the stairs

So, it happened like this.

Jaime is now a senior in the Social Work Department and has learned a lot about "boundaries." As parents, it is important to keep boundaries, to make them clear, and not to cross them. We have to take care of ourselves, you know. And we have to teach these important lessons to David as well. Of course, we are not cruel and we understand that he can't take all this in one bite. We would never let him fall all the way to the bottom the first time. Baby steps, that is the key.

So, it wasn't bad parenting.

He was sitting at the top of the stairs and I was on the landing. He would throw the plastic fish down the stairs and say "uh oh." You see, he doesn't understand that when you deliberately surrender an object to gravity, "uh oh" doesn't apply. So, everything that goes from his hand to the ground gets an "uh oh." It is very cute the first 300 times. . . but I digress.

He gives a weak toss and the fish only goes down one step. He reaches down to pick it up. I've seen him do this before, so I know that he is able to get the fish unassisted. This time, however, he must have thought that he was not getting enough attention from me. Instead of simply grabbing the fish and throwing it again, he tumbles forward head first, trying to violate my boundaries manipulating me into interacting with him in an inappropriate manner. As a good parent I let him land head-first on the first step, then, as his little body is upside down in mid-air preparing to continue to fall, I lunge like a maniac, swooping him up and holding him tight and trying to console him and trying not to cry myself.

On a positive note, he hit on the right side of his forehead so the bruise will compliment the one on the left side of his forehead from when he tumbled to the ground from the bottom step a couple of days ago.