And then, a few days later I read about the gorilla that had to be put down because a young boy fell into the zoo enclosure.
We were driving to visit Marks parents and we had quite a discussion on the irresponsible parents who would let that happen to their child.
I am embarrassed to admit that it took me over 24 hours to realize what an a-hole I am.
I read one comment that by 4 a child should have been taught about rules and that they are more than capable of following those rules. Truth.
HOWEVER...
4 year olds are not known for their excellent decision making skills. They are also known rule breakers. They are fast, and wily and completely predictable in the the sense that they are TOTALLY unpredictable.
If you have kids, think back...have you ever turned your back for 2 LITERAL seconds, only to turn back around and have your child nowhere in sight?
Peyton fell off a picnic table bench when she was 15 months. It was probably 2 feet off the ground. I was sitting right there. She didn't cry, nor act like anything was wrong. Her arm was broken.
Another instance...Sydney was probably 3. The girls were up at zero dark thirty, Mark was out of town. I went into the restroom and I heard "Three little monkeys jumping on the ---" and then a thump and a short cry. And then, the silence...which if you are a parent, you KNOW is that 2 seconds before the real cry. I didn't even have time to say "No jumping on the bed!" before she crashed. ER visit, nursemaids elbow.
Or the time Peyton was riding her new bike...in a parking lot with the only vehicle being Mark's parked pickup. She went right for it. The only obstacle in the entire parking lot and she hit it before we could stop her.
Those are but a few of the many times that my kids got hurt with me right there. We won't even talk about the times that I wasn't.
Things can happen in the time it takes you to look at a text, tie your shoe, tend to a sibling, get your camera to take a photo of your amazing kid.
None of us can say for sure that this, or something equally as awful couldn't have happened to us. Accidents happen. Most parents are doing the best they can.
This situation is terrible for everyone involved. Do we really have to make it worse by pretending that we are above such an occurrence?
I did that. And I'm sorry.
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