Monday, October 27, 2008

An Unexpected Lesson

Every mother knows to expect the unexpected. And by keeping that in mind, I think many mothers have learnt to keep an open mind when watching for possible dangers. Think like the child. What does he see? What looks interesting?

Sometimes, we make last minute saves but other times, we're not so lucky. But, thats just part of growing up. Thankfully, nothing serious has happened yet.

And then of course, you have those times where there is absolutely nothing dangerous in the environment. You can let your guard down. A public restroom used to be one of those places. (Yes, dirty but not much room to physically hurt himself) As long as I gave him a bit of toilet paper to avoid him grabbing it himself, he wouldn't need to be tempted by the only interesting thing in those little stalls.

That was when he was short and clumsy. He's now taller and his little fingers can open just about anything. My first shock came when he reached up, played around with the twisting lock and opened the stall door. It was one of the normal sized stalls and thankfully, I had our bag leaned against the door. That gave me time to slam it shut again.

So what happens when you have a pram and have to go into one of those big stalls? Don't forget to put toddler in pram and strap him in! Otherwise, you'll find yourself shaking your head and screaming "Noooooooo!" while the door just swings open.

No matter how quick you think you're going to be, the toddler is quicker!

Lesson learnt!

6 comments:

NomadicExpat said...

YIKES!!! Hahaha... Well, think of it this way: At least it's not a unisex toilet! Hopefully...

Bilbo said...

I'd forgotten what a dangerous combination speed and curiosity can be in a toddler. Leya can move a lot faster than her almost-57-year-old Opa, and it's led to some pretty heart-stopping moments. Yes, child-raising is a young person's job...I've re-learned THAT lesson.

Mike said...

This is one of those stories you'll tell when he's old and he'll be going MOOOOoooommmmm!

Jean-Luc Picard said...

Curiosity makes them move at a remarkable speed.

Kellan said...

That last line is SO true - HA! I've been there a few times myself.

Take care - Kellan

John A Hill said...

Funny!!!