so lets set the stage...on friday my friend Amanda was trying to pack up everything in her apartment so her husband could move it into their new apartment, well, i knew she was going to be busy, and so i called her up and volunteered to watch her two kids (michael 3 and benjamin 8 months) well, it's like having 2 sets of twins, our kids are so close in age, however it really wasn't that bad. so i have 4 kids to watch... and michael says he wants to go see the ducks. (we have about 10 ducks that hang around the apartments hoping for food...) ok, we can go see the ducks...sure. well, i get kathryn's shoes on and i put ben in the stroller cuz he's the heaviest baby, i have daniel in my arms, and i open the door to let everyone out the door. michael walks out the door first, and kathryn is trying to put the stroller out the door and running into everything, so i tell her let me get the stoller outside, and then you can push it. well that just wasnt good enough for her, she got all upset, and went outside to find the ducks while i push the stroller outside. i get the stroller over the door jam and realize i only see michael who is a few feet in front of me, and the ducks aren't sitting underneath my neighbors truck...so where are the ducks? on the other side of the parking area next to the mailboxes (about 50 feet away). and kathryn is running after them...and the ducks are quickly making their way into the ditch...right next to the road. i scream kathryn's name...she keeps going, i scream (fairly loudly at this point)"kathryn get over here now".. she turns and looks at me with a sarcastic look like, "make me"...all the while i'm getting the sroller off of the sidewalk so i can go get kathryn, until...she turns and starts running toward the road (cuz she knows i'm coming to get her, so she's trying to run away) and she's like 5 feet from the road, i'm at least 50 feet from her, as soon as i see her turn toward the road... i scream. the kind of scream that is so high-pitched and wavering you can barely understand it, the ear piercing scream of fear..."KATHRYN KATHRYN NO!!! NO NO!!" and of course as i'm screaming i'm sprinting daniel in hand, which i nearly threw out of my arms concentrating so hard on stopping kathryn...running as fast as i can and screaming as cars zoom by...i reach her just as her foot touches that white line, you know, the one that marks the outside of the lanes... i reach for her arm and pull her back for all i'm worth...and as i do, a car in that lane flys by. i nearly collapse in the thought of what almost happened... i'm shaking so bad dragging kathryn and barely holding on to daniel making my way back into the house.... tears falling down my cheeks, while screaming, "DON'T YOU EVER EVER DO THAT AGAIN!" i can barely think straight, and i guess kathryn is freaked out too, because she starts screaming and crying.... i just get everyone inside and try to breathe.
if i was a second later than i was in grabbing her, she would have run into the middle of the lane and the car would have hit her, and killed her no doubt. the speed limit on the road in front of my apartment is 55, but i can't tell you how many times people tail me on that road cuz i'm only going 55... it's a bit different from the neighborhood speed limits of 25 or 30... and just seeing it play in my mind while i was running to grab her...yeah, it felt like my heart stopped beating. it took a while to settle down and to calm kathryn down too after that. i tried to explain to her in the most calm voice i could muster, that if she runs out in the road, the cars driving by will hit her, and hurt her really bad,so we never go near moving cars. as soon as she heard the word her she starts bawling her eyes out again. wheeew...i don't think i could take witnessing that happen to kathryn...
and what's worse...last night (saturday) coming home from getting groceries, all the traffic was stopped for quite a ways, right before my aparmtent, and there were numerous cop cars with their flashing lights, and right behind the church on joe may road, their was a heliocopter!!!! oh no! yeah, someone had to be air-lifted to the hospital. i saw a guy walking down the road (traffic was stopped at 10 pm) and he said there was a really bad wreck, and i asked him if i could take the other lane to get past the cars to get to my apartment...and he said yeah, so i did, and this wreck was about 50 feet from the driveway to my apartments! just reiterating how people can't drive and how dangerous a road it is.
6 comments:
Wow and you did this while holding Daniel?? I'm so happy you made it to her, I would've had to get hit by a car too if my kid were out in the road. Freak no outside til Kathryn learns to hold mommy's hand, huh?
Yikes that is super scary. I am so glad everything is ok. You might consider one of those backpack leashes from Walmart.
My goodness! I've had a few of these myself. It's a wake-up call for finding ways to be super cautious with the mischievious ones that's for sure. On the way out, I always got the smaller child/baby settled first and then the crazy toddler and the opposite on the way back in the house. Lock the car if you have distance between where you park and your front door with a window not next to the baby cracked no matter what the weather. Especially in the summer in case if something weird were to happen there would be circulating air in the car. When shopping, I always got the cart first and brought it to the car. Just a few tips. love ya!
thanks for the tips jolie...it has definitely changed the way i do things for sure...i have started getting them in the car differently. except i get kathryn strapped in first b/c the one time i got her out of the car first and in to the house, she managed to lock me out, so i never leave her in the house alone, and always remember my keys! it's always nice to hear mama's stories that have been through it though. they know how it is!
Whoa that is scary. That's the kind of thing that every mother worries about. I'm just so glad you made it to her in time.
I have had a couple of scares with Kailey, none that scary, but she went through a phase right at the end of my pregnancy with Eli where she would run from me as soon as we got outside of the house, store, etc. I don't spank very often, but she got a few good spankings, and thank goodness that did the trick.
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