free falling

are child models kept in bubble wrap except when they are on a shoot?

i don't understand how child models have such scar free faces. remember when mary kate and ashley olsen were five years old and it was okay that they weighed 50 pounds? their pale little faces showed no residue from a scrap, fall, scrape or fight.

sebastian has a variety of marks all over his hands, arms, legs and face. a thin white line on his forehead reminds us of the time his dad was washing the car, left a door open, sebastian scrambled in and then fell out. at least he kept his teeth. there is scar on his cheek from a fight with a friend. a toothmark from hubie on his upper arm. and he's not even four.

how can these gap and polo kids be so mark free? maybe they have better parents than mine do.

stop rolling your eyes...read on.

today team caldwell went to the grocery store. it was typhoon three but nothing too serious. jasper rode in magnificent's trolley, and i got the other three, sela belted in and sebastian and carys in the trolley bit.

all was going fairly well, i was singing the train song and doing a quite good job of it when i heard a scream. a justified scream. because carys was falling out of the cart.

she banged her head on the chilled metal counter that holds the yogurt and then crack, landed head first on the concrete floor. everyone screamed, carys loudest of all. i was so relieved. i picked her up and she screamed for about one minute while i bounced her up and down, checked her ears for blood, her pupils, her head for any cracks and indications of blood gathering under the skull, and her vision. after a minute of frantically singing her latest favourite song, the grand old duke of york, she stopped crying.

needless to say, the observers (and there were plenty of them) had plenty to say. some comments were supportive "she's a trooper!" (true) others were, "poor little baby" (also true).

last week sela fell. what made me think that with sela being belted in that my kids would be out of the free fall zone?

i have injured my kids before. falling off sofas and landing on the corner of teak coffee tables, falling off change tables (not on my shift, but still), lifting up sebastian to put him into the baby bjorn and cracking his head on the ceiling....but this was preventable. i had PRECEDENCE. could have prevented it and didn't.

so now i am worried that carys is going to have epilepsy and it will be my fault. not that i gave it to her genetically, but that i let go of her and she cracked her head open. hey, that's how i got it, why shouldn't it happen to my little girl? NOT PLEASED.

Comments

[Auntie Pammie]

Tess, dont start putting the cart in front of the horse just yet. I am sure Carys will be find, watch her closley, and at her next appointment mention to the Doc about the head bonks,, Even Sela's should be mentioned. YOu know with that many kids , the odds are that 1/4 is gonna get hurt. Maybe the easiest thing to do is leave some at home and take turns each week as to who gets to go? I am not expert ( since I was not around to raise my kids), but that seems like a solution in my head. I am sure Little LuLu will be fine, she has fought this long and hard, and after getting to know her this summer, she is a little scrapper. Hang in there!
Love to you all
Auntie P

[Tertia]

Yuck! How horribly scary for you all. I hate it when they hurt themselves. Poor little darlings.

Listen to Auntie Pammie, she sounds v sensible.

xx

[Maureen Lyons]

Darling, don't be too hard on yourself. It is so hard when babes get hurt 'on our shift' but you can only do so much and be in so many places at one time. When Carys fell you did all the right checks and know what to watch for over the next weeks - you did it all right. You are doing a wonderful job and are a great mum.

Much love, M xox

[Louise M]

You know, it was probably Sela, edging her on. "Hey Carys, next time we go shopping, fall out of the cart. Mommy gives you her undivided attention for hours and you get to be held" "Ooops, sorry. Forgot to mention that it might hurt!"

Seriously Tess, all kids have scars on them, even those kids in the Gap commercials (amazing what cover-up covers!) The guilt we carry as parents is amazing, we want to keep them safe, but we can't. Both you and MC are doing a wonderful job, and are awesome parents! (clap, clap, clap, clap)

[Lyns]

glad to hear im not the only one... let Keighley in the stroller and forgot to buckler her in for like two seconds...THWACK..she hit the sidwalk head first!!!!!!
miss you lots..
lyns

[Maggs]

I'm sure she'll be fine.

I can relate though...God I hope Miss A. doesn't get my bipolar disorder. I wish I could protect her from everything.

[Liz]

Don't be so hard on yourself, accidents happen. You have four to take care, and you only got 2 eyes. They will be fine. Kids go through bruises, they bouce, they jump, that's what they do. *hugs*

[knobody]

i'm sure carys will be fine. my sister had to be hit with a baseball bat to get epilepsy. i'm sure a fall from a shopping cart isn't anywhere near enough. especially since she had a counter to slow her fall. you should see the lumps sagan has on his head. poor thing will never be able to have a short haircut.

as for model babies? one word: photoshop!

[jen aka mom of kamakazee cam]

Tell Carys that Cam is right there with her. Last night, Cam thought it would be great to walk up my parents stairs.... with a little tykes tugboat around his legs. He now sports a lovely purple lip and lump on the noodle........yes, we are horrible parents. Thank goodness they won't remember! :-)