Have you ever slid on your children’s toys? No, I mean have you ever REALLY slid on your children’s toys? I did. When my son was two, I slid on a toy car in the kitchen. It felt like I was traveling in slow motion as I fell forward, propelling a crystal glass across the counter and shattering it into pieces, as I dramatically fell on my face. LOVELY.
I thought my falling antics had passed until tonight. I was talking to my sister for a minute on the phone while trying to make dinner. I had veggies in the oven, chicken on the stove, and rice just about to boil. I got off the phone and turned toward the living room, noticing that in five minutes, my children had gotten completely naked except for their underwear or diaper. I started to laugh when I saw it. A cup of water being treated like a squirt gun. And water was flying from it…in my living room.
You can probably guess where this is going.
I stormed into the living room and grabbed the cup then started to storm back into the kitchen. What I didn’t know was that they had spilled some of the water in the kitchen already. I took one step onto the wood and flew into the air—literally. I landed HARD directly on my back, head, and left elbow. PAIN.
My poor son, the culprit of the whole thing, saw me fall and heard me cry. I told him to get the phone so I could call his Dad (since I seriously thought I was paralyzed…I couldn’t move for a minute). He started crying and thinking I was dying (we’re in a death phase right now…lots of questions). How sad is THAT!?
So here I sit tonight, after letting him know mommy is okay–my back is stiff, my right big toe is sore, and my left elbow is a lovely shade of eggplant purple.
The moral of this story? Beware of toys. Beware of water. And always, always, look before you walk.