Tuesday, March 15, 2005

Disaster Averted

Yesterday, I was faced with the very real prospect of every parent's worst nightmare. When I got home from work, my wife told me that our almost-3 year old daughter had a harrowing experience. It seems Sarah (AKA Calvinatorette III) was trying to reach her pacifier (which she calls a "deedee" for some inexplicable reason), which had been placed on the top of the dresser in our girls' bedroom. Also atop that particular dresser sits a 20" TV/VCR/DVD combo. My precious daughter apparently decided to climb to get her deedee instead of asking for her mom's help.

The dresser tipped over. The TV/VCR/DVD crashed down and into the rail of the bottom bunk of the girls' bunk beds.

Two dresser drawers are broken. The TV has a broken casing (but still works). The bed rail is broken.

Calvinatorette III escaped without a scratch.

The only thing I can figure is that she had opened a few drawers, but instead of standing in one, she was trying to climb up the sides. So, when the whole thing started to tumble, she fell off to the side and avoided being crushed by either the dresser or the TV.

The emotions that hit me when I heard the story were a new experience for me. I had always heard that extreme fear and helplessness can express itself as anger. Now, I have first-hand knowledge of the truth of that.

I thank God that Sarah was not injured . . .

or killed.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Calvinator - That's strange. I did the same exact thing when I was about 2. I opened the bottom drawer a lot, and each subsequent drawer a little less, creating the stair effect. Somehow, much the same way, I escaped without a scratch.

Anonymous said...

I think that it is a "Sarah" thing. My Sarah, who just turned 3, has been a daredevil since she started walking over 2 years ago. Before she was 2, she would move a chair over to the counter, climb up onto the counter (using the lower cabinets as foot holds), and then open the cabinets looking for food. I can't count the number of times that I have entered a room to see her standing on a counter or table.

Last night, she discovered that she can somersault out of her twin-sized bed. So, she proceeded to do it about ten times, laughing throughout it.

Although she is destined to be a munchkin, she will be a tough, battle-tested munchkin. :)