Friday, September 08, 2006

Spot Takes a Dive

Our evening routine during the week is usually a fairly rapid succession of dinner, bath, bed. Logan crashes early and can easily be ready to sleep the night by 6:30pm-7:00pm. Once we finish dinner, I get the bath going and gather towels, diapers and jammies.

A couple nights ago, despite being so tired, Logan was fussy and I thought a bath might soothe his rash and settle him for bed. I started the bath, and as always, both boys had to be right at the tub to supervise, checking the water, making sure all appropriate toys were accounted for and that there was nothing out of the ordinary to set off a screaming fit. I was about to go get the towels, but hesitated, thinking that Logan has been more than capable of getting himself out of the tub for awhile, and is therefore very capable of getting himself in. He stands there and lifts his little leg to the rim, then puts it down, then puts his foot up, then puts it down. It is really cute to see.

That night I turned around for a second, and heard the splash as he dove in head first, fully dressed. I immediately fished that sputtering baby out of the water so he could catch his breath. Once he realized he was fine, he just sat there with a self satisfied grin to find himself fully clothed in the bath tub. Although he looked really cute sitting there, I feel like it was a barely averted disaster. Had he waited just 30 seconds, I would have been out of the room getting towels. I am so glad I listened to my gut and hesitated a moment. Going forward, they will need to stay in their seats at the dinner table until I am ready for them.

I often consider myself paranoid about certain safety issues, but now consider it so much more justified. Part of our routine is that Hayden lets the water out of the tub before getting out, since I am so worried that I will be getting one boy dressed and the other will jump back in. Another concern involves Hayden's love of the garage. He often plays that he is leaving, grabs a bag, tells us where he is going, and heads down the hall.
"Bye bye!"
"Where are you going?"
"On macation."
"Where are you going on vacation?"
"To the castle in my car." or "To UncleStevieAuntieJoycie" or "To Papa Ahnie garage, ride cart."
Yeah, he has a lot going on. As we were getting ready to leave one day, we found him already in the car in the garage. Since that day, I always lock the deadbolt to the door, and often have the flat lock set on the bathroom door (which strangely leads to the garage.) The garage is often over one hundred degrees and I have visions of the worst. Although I can be diligent in preventing so much, what really concerns me are the things I don't foresee.

1 comment:

Undomestic said...

My husband goes as far as unscrewing the stopper in the bathtub and putting it out of reach each night. He fears that Max will wake up at night, turn on the water and possibly "go swimming." I consider my husband overly protective whem it comes to the kids, but I'm glad one of us is. We create a good balance.

Glad your little ones are okay, and you're justified in protecting them however you must.