Ironic

Just yesterday I was saying that I would choose "freeze time" as my super power if I could. This morning I could have put it to good use.

N & K were going down the stairs on their tummies backwards (safer than walking in my opinion) and I was behind them standing clear cause they will run into you if you are in front of them. I'm not sure exactly what happened... Somehow N knocked K ... K sat up and then lost her balance.

Poor little K. I saw her frantically try to catch her balance, and then she fell backwards so she was heading down the stairs on her back. Head first. This is not a good position. At the bottom of the stairs there is a landing of tile. Cold, hard, ugly, light mocha brown tile with unattractive flowers around the edges. Somehow, in the course of 4-5 steps K, amazing, coordinated little K managed to turn herself so that she was going sideways, and she slowed herself down and almost managed to stop, but not quite, but she rolled sideways down that last step on to the cold hard ugly tile. She bonked her head slightly and she cried. Oh, did she cry. But she was ok. She did not land head first. It was truly amazing. She's bonked her own head harder than what she did today when she's tried to stand up under the table not realizing she's too tall to do that anymore.

I was standing on the upper landing holding T, trying to get down the steps to do something, but knowing I was really too far away to do anything. It was awful. It felt like I was moving in slow motion because I was too far to do anything and I had T in my arms. (If I were able to freeze time, I could have stopped her from even bonking her head a little.) I am still thanking K's lucky stars that she was able to turn herself. I shudder to think how hurt she would have been if she couldn't have.

As soon as K hit the bottom, and began crying, N ran and put herself into time out. I was still holding T, but I was down the stairs in milliseconds and managed to also pick up K. I was snuggling her and kissing her. Within a few seconds she was fine and off playing. I was still a mess.

I asked N to come down so I could talk to her and she said, "No, I'm in time out." I told her to come on down that we needed to talk. When she got down, we talked about how from now on there could only be one person going down the stairs at a time and that this is why she needed to be more careful. (N is so unaware of her own body and the space around her.) She agreed to this, and she genuinely felt awful, and she knew she was in trouble, but a few minutes later she runs into K again.

How does one deal with a klutzy oblivious kid aka N? How does one get images of their child lying hurt in a heap at the bottom of the stairs out of their head? (Thankfully these images are only ones I saw flash before my eyes as she was falling and righting herself, not images of actuality.) I am so thankful K is ok. I should go kiss her some more.