I have been told that the funniest things happen to me. Or maybe it’s just that I don’t take life too seriously and am always looking for a way to laugh.
Like two days ago when my daughter Tiana FELL into a “wishing fountain” in front of our favorite iced tea spot. I was seriously hoping someone caught it on tape because it was THAT funny. She was just swishing her hands in the water like any other unsupervised 3 year old would, leaned over a little too far and gravity took over. I watched it all happen in slow motion from a short distance, but there was nothing I could do but help the completed drenched daughter out of the fountain. I contained the giggles until she quickly proclaimed, “I need a towel!” No kidding.
Or maybe it’s because yesterday I fell in the pool. Seriously. Tiana was swimming and I decided to make myself useful since the water is WAY too cold to get in it. So, I grabbed the pool broom and got to work. That is until I lost my footing (which isn’t hard to do in slippers by the way) and fell in. Like all the way in. With my clothes on. I couldn’t help but giggle and say, “I need a towel.”
But today was really the best, in a “not best” sort of a way. My year and a half year old son and I had just finished grocery shopping and were loading the items in the car. Among them were 4 gallons of milk and three cartons of ice cream. Are these details important you may ask, yes indeed they are. I was letting Truett play around in the back seat of the Sequoia as I loaded the bags of groceries in. A foursome of firemen walked by, apparently heading into the store to get their groceries. Being the exemplary citizen that I am, I acknowledged them and kindly thanked them for their service. Three said “thank you” and kept on walking. One came over to say hi to Truett, then unexpectedly reached into the back seat and gave one of the car seats a shake. After a brief moment of panic, I realized he was saying goodbye and heading to join his fellow heros in the store.
Until he promptly returned a minute later asking if he could help better secure the said car seat. The next 30 minutes were filled with many embarrassing moments and qualifying moments for “worst mother of the year.”
At this point I will remind you I have ice cream and milk in the car and that it was warm enough for my daughter to be swimming yesterday. The 30 minutes included removing the car seats, turning them repeatedly upside down and revealing all sort of items under and within the seats including: wrappers, barrettes, a headband, lip gloss, goldfish, Nerds candy, crumbs, and baggie of jelly beans. You get the idea. Don’t judge me, I have 5 children. We practically live in our car during the week, and today is Friday.
The final verdict? My daughter Tiana’s carseat is now new and improved, though my daughter hates it. After 20 minutes of working to secure with the latch system (which of course required me to unload the grocery bags into the cart so we could reach some necessary “safety” equipment in the back), Mr. Fireman asked me her weight to verify all is well. I won’t lie, I lied. I have no idea how much my daughter weighs so I said 45 lbs, then moved it to more like 40. (After verifying this evening I found I was only 4 off, she’s 36lbs.) So 20 minutes into the adventure we undid all the securing as he read the information on the side of the seat to find that the upper weight limit of the buckle straps is 40lbs. So he removed the straps from the 5-point car seat, re-secured the seat and gave me the proper instructions on how to use the car buckle with the strapless car seat.
And Truetts? After further review I was told that the seat was expired, not only improperly secured, and messy.
So, you know what I’ll be doing tomorrow. That’s right, getting a new and improved seat for Truett. As far as Tiana, don’t be surprised if you see her walking around with high calorie food to bulk her up to that 40lb mark!
