Yesterday started out well. I was up early and accomplishing lots. I put Eva down for a nap and started working on my art journal even before Jill arrived, which never happens. I had fun chatting with Jill, eating good food, and creating. The fun all ended when Jill decided she just wasn't feeling it and decided to go home early.
Max had a friend over after school and the boys were going in and out of the front door seemingly constantly. I was scanning some photos and heard Eva crying in pain. I ran over to see what had happened, and saw that she had fallen down the stairs. Fortunately it was only about 7 stairs and they're carpeted, but still. She seemed to be unhurt, just really scared and shaken up. That made two of us! I was really upset that someone hadn't locked the gate, but the boys witnessed the fall and were pretty upset, too, so there was no point trying to blame anyone. I hope that will make them more conscientious about the gate.
A little after that, I took Max's friend home and stopped at the grocery store to get some milk. When I got back, I realized that it was after 6:00 and Lucas still hadn't come home from the neighbors' house. I sent Max over to bring him home for dinner. Max checked the house where Lucas said he would be, and Lucas wasn't there. He checked the other two homes where Lucas might play, and he wasn't there either. I was perplexed, because Lucas has never done anything like this before. I walked around the neighborhood, looking and listening, and there was no sign of him. I then called the woman whose home he was supposed to be playing at, and she said her son was nowhere to be found either.
Now I was really getting worried. I couldn't imagine where he could be. We both got in our cars to search. I went to the school to see if they went to the playground there and she went to the park. (Lucas absolutely knows he can't go to either one of those places without an adult in tow.) She found them at the house of someone in our ward another street over. I didn't even think Lucas knew them yet, so I would never have checked there. I was grateful, of course, that he was OK, but also so mad at the same time! We had a little chat. I really think it was the other kid's idea -- he's a bit of a Dennis the Menace type. But Lucas totally knew better. So obviously, Lucas will only be able to play with that child at our house from now on. I'm still trying to determine what other privileges he should lose for scaring me half to death. It was 7:30 by the time he got home!
Marc didn't get home till after 8:00, at which point Eva was screaming in her crib, unable to go to sleep for unknown reasons. (residual pain from her fall perhaps?) I had a terrible headache coming on and just couldn't take anymore. Marc brought me some pain medicine and I fell asleep on my bed. No dinner, no Apprentice, no tooth-brushing. I woke up around midnight and got under the covers. It was a good thing I went to sleep so early, too, because Eva was up about 10 times in the night. I think her top teeth are coming in. I would say that a night like that could never be repeated, but that might be tempting fate...
(Incidentally, Max was a champ through it all, got his own dinner without complaining, and was my only child to not put me through the wringer yesterday.)
10 comments:
Oh my goodness Michelle! What a terrible night! There is NO feeling like that of not knowing where your kids are! The panic and worry... I am SO sorry! I wish I knew what to tell you about punishments, but I never did come up with one for Soren and his 911 fiasco. I felt like after we talked about it, he knew not to do it again. So, until the next time it happens (which better be never!), he is stuck coming with me EVERYWHERE!
I hope today is calm and restful for you! And if you need to vent anymore, I'll see you tonight at bookclub! YIPPEE!
Sounds horrendous! Just reading your account gives me a pit in my stomach and the beginnings of a headache. When John was little I couldn't find him one afternoon. After thoroughly searching the house, tearfully walking up and down the street calling his name, and then nearly panicking and calling 911, I found him asleep under his bed--the last place I expected him to be.
When Sarah was just a little over a year old, she took a tumble down a portion of the basement stairs. It scared her and me both, but it wasn't until the next morning, when I was trying to dress her, that I finally realized that her arm was broken! It wasn't a serious fracture, but she did end up in a cast for a couple of weeks.
Oh, the trials of motherhood! Hope today is a little calmer for you.
I'm glad the torture is over...hopefully! I hate when I can't find the kids IMMEDIATELY! And now matter how many times I show them WHERE our yard ends they just can't seem to get it! I had a torture day last week....luckily we can recover quickly or we would go crazy! I hope you get a nap in today!
What a hellish afternoon, I'm so sorry. I'm also sorry that I felt so crappy and had to cut things short (what's up with that anyway?). I have no words for the Lucas situation. I would have been so scared and then so livid that I would want to lock him in his room for a week. I don't think there's any good way to make him understand all the bad things that could have happened to him.
I'm glad you have the respite of bookclub tonight to make up for some craziness. hopefully Eva's teeth come in quickly and she and you can both get some rest. Otherwise, there's always the razor blade...Just kidding. Cruel joke.
I'm so sorry about your day and night! I know about wandering children. We call our sons "the lost boys" because they can quickly disappear quickly and return in dire need of bathing. Our street with a circle drive is full of young families and the kids flow from yard to yard as many of the backyards don't have fences. It is such a firghtful feeling not to mention shameful to go on the kid hunt! Hope Eva has recovered from her tumble, too.
I fear the day I lose Mya, and it is bound to happen with the kind of kid she is. Glad you found Lucas and were able to take a nap especially with Eva waking up all night. Hoepfully the rest of the week is much better.
So sorry to hear about Eva's fall and Lucas unknown whereabouts. What a scare! Today has to be a good one. Love you!
I wish you had shared this on Tuesday! How frightening to not be able to find Lucas AND having sweet Eva fall down the stairs.
Post a Comment