Sentiments of a Mother

For 19 months I have managed to protect my son against so much as a scratch but the other day, he tripped and fell over whilst running around York Minster and cut his upper lip, and it happened on his father's watch. Needless to say I didn't speak with him for two hours and even then, I went on all day about how he shouldn't be too far from Scott in the first place especially in a crowded place like that. Of course I realise that he doesn't want Scott to get hurt just as much as me, but his attitude towards the aftermath made me absolutely livid.

He went on to say that Scott is a toddler who loves to toddle (really?!) and he will get hurt from tripping and falling over as it is part of growing up. OK, I realise his point but the way that he shrugged it all off after wiping the blood off the cut with a pathetic baby wipe made me so angry I said a lot of nasty things to him. He did not even bother to check the cut if there was anything there like bits of gravel or anything at all that could possibly be lodged within that may cause infection.

He didn't even bother to comfort him at all he just strapped him back in his push chair. I know James doesn't want Scott to get hurt either but he thinks that by ignoring what happened, it is just going to go away like nothing happened at all! I also know that my son is going to get cuts and bruises now and again but that doesn't mean you should just leave him in discomfort to suffer. His upper lip was swollen so I assumed he might be in pain and he was also unsettled in his push chair. I cursed myself for not taking my first aid kit with me which I bought purposely for Scott and for obvious reasons I didn't have our little ice packs and ice pads on me at the time. So instead, we just looked for the nearest chemist and bought some Calpol to alleviate the pain. Almost instantly he was fine and we were able to resume the last leg of our little holiday around Yorkshire.

I suppose to go through your first 19 months unscathed is pretty damn good but as a mother you just want that 19 months to be 19 lifetimes for your children. I know I need to get used to the reality that is the impossibility to encase my little baby boy in a bubble wrap so that nothing and no one can ever hurt him. But life is life and as a parent we can only do our very best. Unfortunately for James I have a few tricks to teach him or else!