Woops! I Nearly Killed the Grandchild - But it Was an Accident!

Share:    

Woops! I Nearly Killed the Grandchild - But it Was an Accident!

Has anyone else accidentally almost killed their grandchild the very first time that they've been left in sole control of them?OK, it`s a total embarrassment, but. I'll tell you my horror story anyway, only because the memory woke me up again last night in a cold sweat and it's been six years now, since the incident happened.My husband`s son, Byron and our daughter in law Nok had arrived in the UK for a visit from Thailand, with their perfect and precious first baby, Daniel, then about 10 months old.Understandably, with this being our daughter in laws` first visit to the UK, her hubby was keen to show his wife the bright lights of London town.My husband Bob and I excitedly offered to care for baby Daniel for the afternoon. We would take him to the park, feed the ducks, show him off around the local shopping mall, make all the other grandparents jealous of his superior good looks...However, the new parents took some convincing that their precious child would be safe in our hands. Bob lost brownie points as he'd been so busy with his life-in-the-fast 'track super duper glam TV career during his own son's childhood that Byron was racking his brains to remember if he had any memories whatsoever of his father ever changing a nappy.I am, of course, the granny who had never conceived. Zilch credentials. No kids of my own, so no track record to prove my babysitting abilities to my step son and daughter in law, who looked dubiously from one to the other of us below- the-grade grandparents.Eventually they relented, but not before they had loaded up Daniel's pushchair with every conceivable baby support implement known to man or beast, from spare nappies to wet wipes, bottles, bibs, extra blankets...we could have been embarking on a mission to the moon, not trotting a few hundred yards up the street and even then we had to be escorted by the worried parents until we reached the very last spot where they could flank us as we wheeled our precious grandson along the pavement.At last we parted, rolling our eyes in exasperation at the final run through of things we must remember, things we must be vigilant about."For goodness sake!" We scorned, as even after we parted, they turned around every few steps and checked as we took our first few steps in the other direction. "I'm sure we can look after a baby for a few measly hours."Hmmm, how wrong can someone be?It all started off swimmingly. Daniel was undoubtedly the most beautiful creature to have ever emerged on this planet and I know all grandparents say that about their grandchildren, but it wasn't just me saying it - other people stopped in the street to admire his huge brown eyes and winning smile."See, he feels safe with us" I pointed out to Bob as the baby amused all around us in the caf with his winning ways and then happily nodded off as we picked up some groceries at the supermarket. We laughed at the way his parents had been so timid about leaving him in our care - why we were world champion grandparents, we decided, we could win a gold medal for it....That was before the pigeon swooped...I've never liked pigeons. I always think of them as flying rats...Daniel had just woken up as we approached the park and sleepily smiled as he spotted one of the local squirrels hopping around on the look out for treats. Bob rifled his pocket and pulled out a couple of nuts and threw them down. Daniel giggled as the squirrel headed over...The trouble was, that a group of greedy pigeons headed our way at speed at the same time and one suddenly landed on Daniels hand, much to the baby's alarm.Quick as a flash, Grandpa Bob flung himself to the rescue. He was Super Grandad; all he needed were a pair of underpants over his tights as he responded with Super Human speed, swinging the shopping bag in the errant pigeon's direction, intent on protecting our precious cargo.Well he got rid of the pigeon alright. It flapped away in the nick of time. Unfortunately the bag, complete with baked bean cans within, continued on it's merry route - smack bang in to Daniel's perfect, baby smooth, golden skinned, formerly perfect forehead.It was one of those moments you kind of never forget - The look of shock on the baby's face. The bump which popped up immediately, like one of those cartoons one used to see in kids comics, with throb marks transmitting outwards from it...and then the tears. The sort of crying you only get when a four pack of baked beans and other assorted groceries have whopped you full on the forehead.I picked Daniel up, hugged away the tears, cuddled him tight, whispering words under my breath that can't be repeated on ay family website...Bob, white faced, tried to distract him with the baby ducklings bobbing on the pond. Daniel stopped crying."I think he's OK." I stammered. "It's just a little bump" I could feel my nose growing a la Pinocchio, but Daniel was calming down. Suddenly he fell asleep."That's good" Bob said"No it isn't" I answered. "Maybe he's concussed, not dozing!"So what did we do? We tried to wake him up again. This time he was not a happy chap.We took the decision to race him to the doctors, too worried about Daniel's well being to even begin to think how we were going to explain this to his parents. On the way we bumped (sorry no pun intended) into our next door neighbour Viv with her two kids."Where are you two going like Bats out of Hell?" she asked, looking more and more amused as we recounted our tale of horror. Daniel, meanwhile, had woken again and was giving her the heart stopping smiles that have always been his signature."Don't be daft. He looks perfectly all right to me." She laughed. "That's nothing. When my Josie was two days old we took her on a ferry. My husband slept on the top bunk and leapt out in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, forgetting we had the baby in the Moses basket...right where he landed."Sure enough Daniel seemed to have totally forgotten the incident and after playing for a while with her two kids while Viv fed us copious amounts of sweet tea for shock, he was fed, bathed, in his jemmies and sleeping peacefully once again when his parents arrived home.Even the comic book lump had subsided, with a tiny pink smudge the only evidence of a less than perfectly smooth babysitting session.We Grandparents of course, still suffer post traumatic stress when the memories come flooding back, even though Daniel is now a strapping and still devilishly handsome, seven year old with no scars to show for the incident, though he`s never been over fond of baked beans for some unfathomable reason...But as I said earlier, we are not the only shame faced grandparents who have home alone stories to tell of their first time in charge of the grandkids.One woman told me that it had taken two years before her daughter in law had agreed to let her babysit her granddaughter for the very first time.The parents, out to a posh works do, dropped the little girl off for the evening and had just driven away when the grandparents turned around to see the two year old finishing off one of the glasses of red wine that she and her husband enjoyed every evening as a pre dinner tipple in a normally child free zone. They had absent mindedly left the wine on the coffee table with the excitement of the child's arrival.Needless to say, two year olds and fortified wine do not make a great mix and the tale took a much more disastrous journey than our own with a rush to hospital, medication administered and the grandparents denied baby sitting duties ever again. A sober tale my dear friends and a warning to batten down the wine cellar when the grandkids are about. Be careful with baked beans too. Don`t go swinging them at any passing pidgeons or you may never get to see your grandchildren again.

POST COMMENT

Hypo Venture Capital Headlines: Warning Of Global Stall May Come Too Late To Avoid Crash There Is Nothing Funny About Car Accidents And High Insurance Premiums Denver Auto Accident Lawyer Chiropractic Treatment For Auto Accidents & Whiplash Injuries In Plantation, Florida Best Palm Desert Romantic Places and Places for Romance by Palm Desert Truck Accident Lawyer Sebastian Gibson Take Assistance Of Accident Lawyers To Avail Insurance Claims Legal Assistance For Vehicular Accidents With An Auto Accident Attorney In Florida 2010 Best San Juan Capistrano Area Bars to Watch Sports and Top Places For Live Music by San Juan Capistrano Truck Accident Lawyer Sebastian Gibson The Ways In Which Alaska Accident Lawyers Help Injured People After A Crash Paintball Competitors Don't Play Around 2010 Best Rancho Santa Margarita Area Bars to Watch Sports and Top Places For Music by Rancho Santa Margarita Truck Accident Lawyer Sebastian Gibson Motorcycle Accident Causes- Whose Fault Is It? Car Accident Lawyer and Their Legal Services