Wednesday 6 October 2010

Quicksilver strikes again

Apologies for this brief break in transmission. Order will be restored to Planet Baby shortly and my intended post will appear as planned. I just had to share this with you (now 83 - welcome new friends!) while my thoughts are still fresh. Remember my little post about 'Quicksilver' Sam? Well, today he struck again. He really outdid himself this time. I very nearly became a mother of two, not three.

Picture this. I'm in my bedroom, lying on the bed, reading the Sydney Morning Herald, my must-read of the day. Ah, luxury. Time to connect with the world outside Planet Baby. Joshie and India are playing happily outside in the garden with the next-door neighbour. Sammy is doing his usual half-cruise-around-the-furniture and half-four-legged-crawl around the house. 'Doing his laps' as I call it.

And then, I hear a car horn sound. It's short but loud. Suddenly, Joshie races inside to tell me that Sam is in danger. Alarmed, I spring to my feet and race to the what! Open front door! It was shut when I left it only moments ago. Horrified, I tear out onto the verandah and what do I see but Sam, crawling onto the footpath and into the path of a car!

My heart in my mouth, I swoop on him and press his little body close to me. I plant a kiss on his soft cheek. Tears in my eyes, I turn to the elderly woman and apologise profusely, explaining that he has darted outside in a matter of seconds. Fortunately, she's very kind about it - my distress is obvious. She drives off. I tell Joshua, India and the next-door neighbour that they need to be very careful not to leave the front door open.

I tell the sweet mother of the young neighbour what has just happened. Her own version of quicksilver on her hip, she immediately understands. She gets it. Empathy. She reminds her son to close our door every time he uses it. I'm not here to blame. I don't know who left the door open. It doesn't matter. What matters is that my little Quicksilver is in my arms. And safe.

Of course I don't have a photo of my little man at the exact point of danger. But if you look at this photo, imagine a little bottom wiggling in the air as he's crawling over the plank (placed there because the pixies kept falling into the gutter), onto the gravel and then the footpath. Imagine a car stopped there, right next to him.


I phone Mr PB and burst into tears. He arrives home promptly and fashions an immediate barricade from some garden furniture to prevent another escape from PB. Here it is.


Here's the view which would now confront any prospective escapee.


We've previously asked our landlord to install a fence but it was deemed too expensive. Now we have to decide whether to put a gate at the front door. I have never had such a horrible thing happen to me with the pixies. I hope it never happens again. It just goes to show, you can never be too vigilant when you have a crawling baby on the loose. Have any of you had a similar horror story? Tell me I'm not alone!

12 comments:

  1. You poor thing Jane, how scary. Glad to hear Sam is fine though. I can't understand why it is so difficult for a landlord to put up a gate or fence. It would be a claimable expense for them anyway, so what's the big deal. Some people are so tight!

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  2. Oh Jane, you poor thing! That is real heart in mouth terrifying stuff! Don't worry you're not alone. Will learnt to unlock and open the front screen door before he could even walk and luckily our house is quite far back from the street as I caught him as he was crawling along the front patio! I now have a second lock up high that he can't reach :)
    I have another horror story from today actually - heart in mouth, phoning hubby in tears sort of thing but I'll email you about it as I don't want my comment on your post to be a foot long :)
    Jxx

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  3. Oh Jane that's sounds awful and absolultely terrifying. Little ones are so quick and so quiet too, it's scary. I'm glad your little one is safe and sound and your hubby came and rescued the day so nothing happens again.xo

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  4. I'm so glad it all turned out ok Jane - you'll never forget today! They really are so vulnerable aren't they?

    Griff's always trying to escape, he loves to dart off down the street at every opportunity and for someone who's not even 2 he is very fast. Luckily our door handle is very high.

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  5. ohh Jane that's horrible..i have so many stories to tell it would take me forever to write...but trust me your not alone,so glad his safe XX

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  6. Oh Jane, what an awful experience for you!! I am so happy to hear that your little Sam is OK and hope you will be too!! ~ Txx

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  7. Hi Jane!
    I finally have some time to read some blogs. Don't beat yourself up to much, it can happen to everyone at anytime. Kids are so quick! Good thing that you put that fence, gives you some peace of mind right? Take care,
    Maureen

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  8. Oh darling, what a shock, worry, emotion, chaos!! Your heart must still be pounding. Can you attach a nice hinge to that 'sun lounge' is it?? As a mother of 4 monkeys, i loathed the houses we've rented (Army houses all Australia) which don't have perimetre fencing, you need a gate!! Or a latch, or a butler to let in the neighbours children!! Yes a butler, then he can also make a cup of something to go with your SMH.
    Now you'll forver be OCD with the door, that's what happens when you narrowly avoid a huge disaster. Deep breaths, more cuddles & hang in there, love Posie
    PS think of us with twins who use each other as human cheer leaders & a leg up to undo doors - they are nothing like singles that's for sure!! You can not babyproof a house with twins, luckily our girls were semi sensible, one would distract us, while the other got up to no good, she still calls herself the evil twin at 9!!

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  9. Thanks, everyone, for your sympathy - I really appreciate it! Hopefully the repurposed sun lounge will do the trick. I don't think he will be able to pull it on top of himself as it's quite heavy. Not that he will be escaping out that front door any time soon!

    Ah, yes, Posie, a butler would be delightful - you have the best ideas! And you're right, OCD and PND - I'm beginning to sound like alphabet soup ☺. Time for bed! J x

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  10. Oh Jane - so glad that Sam is safe and sound. I had a couple of those moments yesterday - Matilda darted across the road without looking (fortunately quiet and no cars coming at the time but still horrible) and then Kelvin disappeared momentarily at the Train Park - when I turned to find him he was hurtling down one of the big blue slides. I think it comes with life on PB!

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  11. Thanks, Ange - and you're right, it does come with the territory. Gosh, it sounds like you had your own horror moments! J x

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Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts, you gorgeous soul. You've just made my day! J x

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