The other day I hurriedly zipped Elsie into her little jacket and heard a scream as the zipper reached the top. "Shhh," I told her. We were running late and I assumed she was just expressing resentment at having to put on another layer of clothes. Elsie calmed down but when we reached our destination and I removed the jacket I saw that I'd actually pinched the skin on her chest pretty badly with the zipper. It was bleeding! Boy did I feel like a dumbass. Proof of injury below:
But really, what parent doesn't injure his or her child at some point? Of course it's accidental but we still feel badly about it. My friend Dave Mason recently left his daughter on the sofa, turned around for just a second and then heard a frightening thud. The baby had rolled off and hit the floor. "I think she's okay though," reports Dave. When, I wonder, will Elsie take her first big tumble due to my negligence? I recently checked her skull and noticed that that freaky soft spot has closed up, so hopefully she can withstand whatever comes her way.
Seriously, how many parents have tossed or lifted their kids high into the air only to discover a ceiling fan whirling above? It probably happens every year. Maybe every week. There was a touching episode of the great radio show "This American Life" a few weeks ago where they talked about a study performed on baby monkeys where the babies always forgave their abusive fake monkey mothers, even when they did crazy things like shocked or hit them. I can't explain it very well, but you can listen to the episode here, which I recommend highly.
In conclusion, I'm not saying that injuring one's children is okay...oh wait I did say that in the title, but what I meant is these things happen and we shouldn't beat ourselves up over them when they do. Especially when your cutting fingernails or zipping up jackets. It's hard to avoid! But ceiling fans and electrocution should be avoidable, for the most part.
