Stairs, Franny Girl and Scares...

I say stairs and perhaps you all are thinking, oh no, she hasn't put the gate up on her stairs yet...ha...I haven't, but that's not what I'm talking about.  I'm here to tell you that you can tell your older children to make sure they close the basement door 'til your blue in the face and they just don't get it.  Well, I think that was a very intense lesson to learn today!  Yup...the basement door was left wide open (not even an attempt to close it and it didn't close all the way...she just didn't close it at all) and Yes, Franny Girl took that as her opportunity to explore the open space.  And yes, she took a long header down about 7 stairs towards the very hard cement basement floor.  I think I'm still a little angry and this happened about 10 hours ago.

Now, have you ever wanted to strangle a child??  I think I did today...how horrible it is to feel that way.  But I also think my heart just about came out of my throat as I lunged down those steps.  Yes, I was right there in the kitchen but my back was to the door and I was holding Baby J at the time trying to make his bottle when this all happened.  Now, I know she realized she had made a mistake when she looked up from the bottom step and saw her baby sister tumbling down the steps towards her b/c she caught her before she went any further.  But, can you imagine what would have happened if she didn't realize her mistake and Franny went all the way down to the hard cement floor???  I don't even want to think about that!!!  I didn't even yell at Kyra.  I don't think I even knew what I wanted to do at that moment other than make sure Franny was ok (and strangle Kyra...but I restrained myself).  Kyra started crying and ran up to her room while I delegated Baby J to DJ for feeding and I held Franny Girl to try and calm her down and make sure there was not bumps, bruises or blood. 

The worst part of it all- I had no car big enough to fit all of these kids in it had things gone worse than they did.  How in the world would I have gotten her to the hospital??  I would have had to call 911...a parents worst nightmare, I think.  I don't ever want to have to rush my child to the ER or have to call. 

Kyra's reaction to this- cry for like 30 seconds, change her clothes and come downstairs ready to continue in her day.  Yeah, it was like nothing happened in her mind.  And so, I sent her back to her room and told her she was not allowed down except for the bathroom and meals.  She had a lot of thinking to do about this.  I also made her write an apology, why we close basement doors, and she had to write 'I will close the basement door' 50 times.  And, when I caught her playing in room, I made her stop.  And, I didn't even turn the AC on for her...just her fan.  I am a mean mean mean mommy...but I am hoping that she realizes the consequences of the fall could have been life threatening. 

DJ was a big help to me today...on a high note!!  Though, it did take him about 7 hours of very interrupted time to complete a word find...oh, I am soooooooo looking forward to homework time come september: NOT!!

Max, on the other hand, has just been absolutely horrific these days too.  I can't tell you how many times that kid gets put in time out.  Today, I got so tired of being calm and putting him in time out that I lost the battle and slapped him on his leg...yeah, it was pretty hard too.  I think all the 'excitement' from the day finally got to me???  But man, is this kid starting to behave poorly and is just not listening these days.  I know it's his age and b/c of DJ/Kyra being home...but it's pretty bad.  I really didn't need it today!!

But, Franny Girl is ok.  Thank goodness.  She didn't sleep much after the fall (which is probably a good thing) but is fast alseep now.  Hopefully she will get a good nights sleep???

Oh, and BTW...in case you didn't hear me earlier b/c I had to say it for like the 1,000th time and quite loudly:  FRANCESCA IS NOT A DOLL...SHE IS A REAL LIVE BABY..

So, today, I am thankful for my Franny Girl and I am thankful that she is OK!!  My heart still beats loud and fast...but is has started to descend back to it's rightful place and out of my throat.