Monday, January 23, 2012

Heart Stopping Moments - Parenting Plights & Delights


When I first started this series, I put out a call for parenting stories. Thank you to everyone who's responded. Following are the kind of memories that get your adrenaline pumping again every time they come to mind:


C. Lee McKenzie of The Write Game shared a cliffhanger (just like a writer!):
Well, there was that one time when I looked out my window to see my youngest clinging to the end of a rope, his legs windmilling over the edge of our property. Now, so you'll see why my heart stopped, our property slopes to the edge of a canyon with a creek below.
Lee's youngest is on the left. The other two are her nephews.

My son and his friends had rigged a rope swing from an old oak and while my son was doing his death-defying high flying act, the limb cracked, leaving him over the creek with no momentum for his return flight!
Have you ever seen a mother fly? The story was that I did that day. And I somehow had the presence of mind to grab the long handled ceiling brush that extended to twenty feet. With that I pulled him back to the bank. You can imagine the rest: lots of hugging, then scolding, then grounding for weeks and weeks, then more hugging. I have flashbacks to that day, and when I do I call that little bugger and tell him he's still grounded for that stunt. In fact, after reading your post, I'm going to call him about it again. I'll tell him it's your fault for reminding me!
Good thing you had the sense to grab that long-handled brush, Lee! How about if you ground him an extra week for me, okay? LOL!


Helen Ginger also answered my call:
My kids are grown now, but when my son was a teen he thought it would be fun to get on his skateboard, hang onto the back of a friend's car and skateboard down the hill to our house. His escapade did not have a happy ending.
Yikers, I'm afraid to find out what his injuries were!

Here's one of  ‪Laura Pauling's heart-stopping moments:
When the back door flew open on the highway and I couldn't slow down and my 2 year old was back there. Thank God for car seats!
I have a feeling lots of you can relate to Laura's experience. Car seats have saved many young lives.
Bish Denham shared a scary memory from her own childhood:
OMG! My sister and I were in Puerto Rico visiting our cousins. One day there was something going on up at their school that we went to. That same day a man escaped from the prison that wasn't all that far away.

My cousin and I got tired of being up at the school so we decided to walk home (not far.) It was a very hot and very still day. As we walked by a big stand of bamboo it began to squeak and groan the way bamboo does. But there was no wind! How could it possibly be making all that noise! It terrified us. We just KNEW the escapee was in there. We ran home and locked ourselves in the house. We actually had to be convinced when the rest of the crew came home that it was them. 

The really spooky part is this...they caught the escapee in the bamboo.
Here's Bish at age 11 or 12

That's a pretty scary memory, Bish, and I bet it was the escapee you heard, since that's where they found him! Crazy!

Stephanie, PQW's memory was a freak accident. This one really blows my mind:
Talk about a scary moment. I was riding in my friend Chris' station wagon on the freeway in Los Angeles. My daughter Claire was seated in the very back with my friend's daughter, Micah. The car in front of us stopped short and Chris slammed on her brakes. For whatever reason, the tailgate of the car flew open and Micah fell out. The car behind us started honking like crazy. We had no idea what had happened until we looked back to see why the guy was laying on his horn.
I'm sure glad that other driver was paying attention. Just think what might have happened if they had cell phones back then and he was busy texting. *Cringe*
So, do you have a parenting or grandparenting incident? 
If you're not a parent, memories from your own childhood count, too! 

Warning: I might feature your story in a future post. 
(Names can be changed to protect the guilty!)

I'd like to thank those who shared a parenting story with me last week. 
I'm saving them and will publish some in future posts.

If you don't want to leave a comment but would rather contact me by email, 
here's my address: lynkelwoohoo at yahoo dot com.




23 comments:

April Plummer said...

I can't say we've had any terrifying moments with our little one. Yet. I have a feeling we'll have more once she starts to date - and mine will be fear that my husband will kill the guy!

Old Kitty said...

Yikes such amazing stories!!! All of them heartstoppingly memorable! Thanks for sharing! Take care
x

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

No, but now I'm really glad I don't have kids. My heart would've stopped years ago.

cleemckenzie said...

My kid is going to kill me when he sees this! But I'm so glad the story's out. One of these days his kids are going read just how "adventurous" their dad was at their age. Payback. :-)

BTW I've left a little something over at the Write Game for one of favorite bloggers. That would be you.

Sarah Tokeley said...

Reminds me of the time I caught one twin holding the other twin's legs while she hung out of the window, throwing bits of paper out. I still feel sick now when I think of it.

Coleen Patrick said...

Scary stories--but it's great that they can turn into tales of adventure!!

LynNerdKelley said...

April - I'm glad you haven't had any terrifying moments with your little one. It's awful. That's funny, your fear about when she starts dating and how your husband will deal with it. It's tough, for sure.

Old Kitty - I'm glad you enjoyed these stories. I still have a couple good ones that you shared with me that I'll post sometime soon!

Alex - LOL! I thought you had kids. You'd make a great dad.

Lee - You'll have to let me know what your son says when he reads this! And thank you for the award, lady! I'm so honored.

Sarah - That's truly a heart-stopping scenario. It sounds like something from a movie. How old were the twins when that happened? Yikes!

LynNerdKelley said...

Coleen - That's a great way to look at these! Thanks!

catherinemjohnson.com said...

Wow, some exciting dramas here Lynn. They remind me when we took the neighbours' kids to the beach and they all climbed the cliff. Our 3 yr old hadn't done it before and I was breastfeeding in the car on the beach and had to call husband over for something. On his way back to the cliff he had a bad feeling and started running. He got round the ledge just in time to catch our son from a sheer drop!

Author A.O. Peart said...

When my son was two, we moved into our current house. I loved the granit countertops in the kitchen until one day...
My little guy decided to do some laps around the kitchen island, despite me asking him to stop running. I looked at him just as he hit the side of his head on the corner of the countertop. His little head literally bounced off with an impact! There was a lot of blood and screaming (him, not me) but I didn't lose my cool. A mother in me acted super fast, and the situation got quickly under control.

The very next day we placed large corner protectors on all of those sharp granite corners. They have stayed on for a few years until both kids grew taller (and wiser). My son has a scar above his temple, hidden under his hair. This was a close call - if he hit his head half inch lower, this could be a tragedy. I still have heart palpitations thinking of it.

jerzey72 said...

you have a beautiful family :)

Susan Kaye Quinn said...

Yikes! These stories are freaking me out!! Thanks for sharing...now I need a hot tea.

Bish Denham said...

What a hoot! I don't know how my mother stayed calm what with me climbing trees all the time.

Anonymous said...

My kids are 20 and 22 and I believe they have some of the best guardian angels around!
So scary....

Helen Ginger said...

All scary stories, esp the one where the child fell out of the car!

Theresa Milstein said...

This was the most stressful post I've ever read. I'm glad everything turned out okay for everyone involved. Yikes!

Julie Flanders said...

I'm like Alex, I think now I am glad I don't have kids! Oh my gosh, these stories stressed me out. Also couldn't believe Bish's story!

Helen Ginger said...

I love that Lee reminds her son of his escapade and grounds him again. I may try that with my son.

LynNerdKelley said...

Catherine - Oh man, I'm so glad your husband got there in time to rescue your three-year-old.

Angela - That's a truly scary incident, one of those horrible moments in parenting. Thank God your little guy was okay.

Jersey - Thank you! And my blogger buds have beautiful families, too. I love it when they're able to share a photo with us!

Susan - LOL! A hot tea or coffee sounds good. Coffee with a shot of Bailey's for me!

LynNerdKelley said...

Bish - Your mother must have known you were a good tree climber, I'm guessing. But if I was your mom, I would have freaked when I heard that escapee story!

Susie - Yes, guardian angels, for sure. I believe in them!

Helen - I know, these are all scary stories. And such a freak accident when the child got bumped out of the station wagon. Crazy! I think it's funny that Lee reminds her son about this incident, too. I don't think kids realize how these close calls affect us!

Theresa - I agree, quite a stressful post, and so are some of the comments. I'm feeling a bit shaky just reading them again to comment on them!

LynNerdKelley said...

Julie - Thanks for stopping by. I know, these are stressful, scary stories. When we had kids, we seldom drank alcohol because we had to be on our toes at all times, never knowing when we'd have to make a trip to the emergency room!

Carol Kilgore said...

Heart-stopping for sure. Especially Bish ... that's the stuff my nightmares are made of.

Empty Nest Insider said...

Thank goodness everyone pulled through in these stories! After several trips to the emergency room, I now realize things could've been much worse! I'll have to call my boys' and thank them. Julie