Guardian Angels

Caring for toddlers is a lot of fun, but it can be downright terrifying! Their enthusiasm for life combined with their utter lack of common sense can be a lethal cocktail. Yesterday, mom and I took the two-under-two crew to Fredericton to babysit Ava, while Emily was in class. During our visit to the park, Leif and Ava suddenly became bored with the climbing structure and made a beeline for the busy road. Like two wild piglets, Leif and Ava took off as fast as their little legs could take them in different directions, laughing as if they were in the middle of the best game ever and seeing aunt Krista/mom scrambling after them in a sheer panic only made them run faster and squeal louder. There was no way I could grab both of them before they ran straight out into traffic,and for one brief moment, time stood still while I tried to figure out who would listen best and who I needed to physically restrain. It did not take me long to solve this one.

Ava, STOP!!

oh? stop.

And she stopped just as I wrapped my arms around Leif before he took another step. I grabbed him and ran over to Ava who was standing on the edge of the curb saying stop, stop, stop.

Thank you, Ava, for listening. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

What can I say? I know my son . . . and thank heavens my gut instincts were right. Phew!

The other afternoon was equally scary. It was lunchtime and I was about to place Leif in his highchair when out of the blue he began to lose his mind, kicking and flailing his arms. As I struggled to get his feet through the holes, Leif flung himself up and over the chair. Again, for a brief moment, time seemed to stand still as I watched him falling head first onto the hardwood flour. Without even thinking, I shot my arm out, grabbed his arm, and managed to flip him over, right side up so that he landed on his feet. The whole thing was surreal;  Leif simply walked away with the strangest look on his face, like he was asking:

Whoa! What just happened . . .

I have no idea how I did not dislocate his shoulder, or how I managed to slow him down enough to remain on his feet as if he had not only moments before been plummeting to an inevitable concussion or even worse. It was then and there that I decided that yes, indeed, guardian angels do exist and I think an entire league of them are helping me protect this crazy, wild toddler of mine. Thank heavens because he is a handful!