Toddler teeth are sharp, I have the bite mark to prove it

-
Most days, The Kid is absolutely adorable and today was no exception. But sometimes adorable comes with a price, especially when she is frustrated.

Gladys was getting ready to take her to the Detroit Zoo, while I was getting ready to study for the class I'm taking and visit Grandma as she recovers from a broken rib and pneumonia. While Gladys was getting dressed, I was trying to occupy The Kid so Gladys could get ready interruption free.

The Kid and I had been chasing each other around our apartment for most of the morning, so I made the choice to leave the baby gate down. Instead, I thought I would just get in her way when she decided to run down the hall. I positioned myself so two steps in either direction would completely block her path.

Foolishly, I thought she'd find it a fun game. I took one step over, she grabbed my leg and laughed.  She tried to run around me, so I stepped over to block her path. I received a laugh and a slap, which I interpreted as playful. The third time, she grabbed my leg like she was going to hug me, which is normal for her. Except, she decided to lead with teeth first and chomped down hard on my left thigh.

We both started screaming loudly enough for Momma to come running to find out what happened. I was shocked, The Kid was mad and Momma was amused.

Needless to say, I learned a hard lesson today. A frustrated toddler has teeth that are sharp enough to break skin. I have the bite mark to prove it.  

Popular posts from this blog

Marching for hope in our neighborhood

-
Image
The Kid and I walked our neighborhood this evening, but with a different purpose than usual. Many in our neighborhood gathered at Gesu Catholic Church to March for Hope . Roughly this time last year, a federal judge who lives a few streets over, was shot on his front porch in a botched robbery attempt. His physical recovery from the single bullet to the knee took the better part of a year and extensive rehabilitation, and his emotional recovery was sped by his church community and immediate neighbors. I don't know the judge, nor am I a member of his church Gesu Catholic. I'm not much of a protest guy either, I prefer to work behind the scenes. I read about the walk this morning , and almost forgot about it until Gladys started to do some work for a class she's taking. So we bundled up The Kid, and the two of us walked over to the church to support our neighborhood. When we walked into the church, I was struck immediately with the knowledge that this was not a protes...
Read more

Yet another blog of parenting advice

-
Image
A friend whose wife is expecting their first child was asking me for advice today. He's going to be a new dad, so he was asking in general terms because until you're in it, you really don't know what to ask for. My knee-jerk reaction was to tell him to get rest. Lots of it, whenever you can from now until the kids are adults. Forget the idea of work/life balance too, because balance is a myth. Sometimes work will take priority, sometimes the kids will, and sometimes dad has to be a priority. If you're too concerned about hitting a false measure of balance, you're going to miss something. The End of the Beginning And that was it. That's all I could come up with until I got in the car and scarfed down one of the sugar cookies I bought for myself as a treat that I had no intention of sharing. Here's what I came up with. Avoid watching Caillou at all costs. For some reason, kids are absolutely mesmerized by him. No adult on that show holds the kid acc...
Read more

The one question you can ask that is guaranteed to offend an adoptee

-
Image
The more I open up about my personal experience trying to find my birth father, the more convinced I become that people talk about adoptee experiences from the wrong lens. There is an implicit bias toward the adoptive parent perspective that can, and often does, negate the experience of the adoptee. I started really paying attention when people were asking me why I waited so long to reach out to my birth father. That is a legitimate question for his family to ask me, especially when considering he was in the last stages of his life. For the general public, I have a different standard and I would hope they would also ask me a second question, but few ever do. Did your birth family ever come looking for you? The only people that ask are my dearest friends. For the most part, I try to answer the first question sincerely and directly. Usually, I land on something like it took a long time to make the decision because I did not want to hurt anyone but eventually I realized I was ...
Read more