Has anyone else accidentally almost killed their grandchild the very first time that they’ve been left in sole control of them?
OK, it`s a total embarrassment, but. I’ll tell you my horror story anyway, only because the memory woke me up again last night in a cold sweat and it’s been six years now, since the incident happened.
My husband`s son, Byron and our daughter in law Nok had arrived in the UK for a visit from Thailand, with their perfect and precious first baby, Daniel, then about 10 months old.
Understandably, with this being our daughter in laws` first visit to the UK, her hubby was keen to show his wife the bright lights of London town.
My husband Bob and I excitedly offered to care for baby Daniel for the afternoon. We would take him to the park, feed the ducks, show him off around the local shopping mall, make all the other grandparents jealous of his superior good looks…
However, the new parents took some convincing that their precious child would be safe in our hands. Bob lost brownie points as he’d been so busy with his life-in-the-fast ‘track super duper glam TV career during his own son’s childhood that Byron was racking his brains to remember if he had any memories whatsoever of his father ever changing a nappy.
I am, of course, the granny who had never conceived. Zilch credentials. No kids of my own, so no track record to prove my babysitting abilities to my step son and daughter in law, who looked dubiously from one to the other of us below- the-grade grandparents.
Eventually they relented, but not before they had loaded up Daniel’s pushchair with every conceivable baby support implement known to man or beast, from spare nappies to wet wipes, bottles, bibs, extra blankets…we could have been embarking on a mission to the moon, not trotting a few hundred yards up the street and even then we had to be escorted by the worried parents until we reached the very last spot where they could flank us as we wheeled our precious grandson along the pavement.
At last we parted, rolling our eyes in exasperation at the final run through of things we must remember, things we must be vigilant about.
“For goodness sake!” We scorned, as even after we parted, they turned around every few steps and checked as we took our first few steps in the other direction. “I’m sure we can look after a baby for a few measly hours.”
Hmmm, how wrong can someone be?
It all started off swimmingly. Daniel was undoubtedly the most beautiful creature to have ever emerged on this planet and I know all grandparents say that about their grandchildren, but it wasn’t just me saying it – other people stopped in the street to admire his huge brown eyes and winning smile.
“See, he feels safe with us” I pointed out to Bob as the baby amused all around us in the café with his winning ways and then happily nodded off as we picked up some groceries at the supermarket. We laughed at the way his parents had been so timid about leaving him in our care – why we were world champion grandparents, we decided, we could win a gold medal for it….That was before the pigeon swooped…I’ve never liked pigeons. I always think of them as flying rats…
Daniel had just woken up as we approached the park and sleepily smiled as he spotted one of the local squirrels hopping around on the look out for treats. Bob rifled his pocket and pulled out a couple of nuts and threw them down. Daniel giggled as the squirrel headed over…The trouble was, that a group of greedy pigeons headed our way at speed at the same time and one suddenly landed on Daniels hand, much to the baby’s alarm.
Quick as a flash, Grandpa Bob flung himself to the rescue. He was Super Grandad; all he needed were a pair of underpants over his tights as he responded with Super Human speed, swinging the shopping bag in the errant pigeon’s direction, intent on protecting our precious cargo.
Well he got rid of the pigeon alright. It flapped away in the nick of time. Unfortunately the bag, complete with baked bean cans within, continued on it’s merry route – smack bang in to Daniel’s perfect, baby smooth, golden skinned, formerly perfect forehead.
It was one of those moments you kind of never forget – The look of shock on the baby’s face. The bump which popped up immediately, like one of those cartoons one used to see in kids comics, with throb marks transmitting outwards from it…and then the
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Tags: accident, Baby Support, Bright Lights, Brownie Points, Changing A Nappy, Cold Sweat, Flank, Grandchild, Horror Story, Hubby, Husband Bob, Killed, Lights Of London, loaded, London Town, Mission To The Moon, Nappies, Nearly, New Parents, Precious Child, Pushchair, Sole Control, Son And Daughter, SUMMER, Tv Career, Woops, Zilch
