Being a Parent Hurts Sometimes

I recently suffered a really intense knee injury at the hands on my toddler. I was bending down in the kitchen when my son ran in and jumped on my back. He caught me totally off guard. I fell forward not wanting him to get hurt we ended up landing on my knee. It was swollen and felt as if something was dislocated but I do not have the luxury of time to go to the hospital or doctor for something as trivial as my knee. It hurt or should I say it hurts. This happened a few weeks ago now and I still feel a little pain. The incident got me thinking, I really need to be careful this dude is dangerous. But, it also made me wonder how many other parents have had injuries from their babies and toddlers?

By far this is not the first injury my son but certainly my worst to date. I've had hair pulled, been bitten off guard while I was walking because my son wanted to try out his little teeth, I've been knocked in the face, head butted and scratched. Okay, the scratching is probably my bad but it's so tough clipping those little nails. One time, I was certain that he had broken my nose from a head-butt.

When my son was a baby he had a biting stage. It was awful! I was a bit scared of him then. This is an abusive relationship at its best. I keep going in for more because I love him. But, I know he's gonna hit me again. With babies and young toddlers we parents are up against flailing arms and legs plus a language barrier. While he was going through the whole "surprise biting thing" In his mind my yells of pain probably seemed like excitement and he needed to do it again. I know what you’re thinking he was just teething and wanted something for the gums. Come on now, don't you think I thought of that? This kid wanted flesh! I asked in forums and looked around for help with the biting but everyone treated it as if they NEVER had a problem like that with THEIR baby. Whatever!

Frequently, people talk about the financial, emotional or mental strain of parenting. What about the physical? After searching on the internet for a while I hit paydirt. I found  Mothering.com in the forum post it has a few parents sharing their stories on their injuries. In the words of rapper Ludacris "guard your grill".  Sometimes it hurts being a parent but it's just part of the job. I love being a mommy and my son is amazing! Every injury large or small is worth it and this stage will pass. I just wish it would hurry up a bit.

How do you measure a value of a toy?

I look around the living room to see toys strewn around and always wonder to myself why I keep buying these things? Could it be because I want my toddler son to throw them around with such a vengeance that it’s has me wondering if somehow that toy had managed to do something to him? That’s a thought …… While walking I step on one of these toys and in mid stumble it hits me as to how one of them could have possibly done something to him as it had me.

This has gone all wrong. When I purchased these toys I had visions of my son enjoying and playing with them. I had imagined I would bring the toy in and say tahh dahh! He would run over laughing and smiling and it would be love at first sight. I would have never had excepted they would be used for balls and target practice. I keep buying them because I have hope in these toys. I put faith in them. To do what you ask? To divert the attention of my son from turning my tv on and off, from banging on my computer key board, I am looking for a toy with the power to keep him from turning the computer off while I’m mid stroke. I’m looking for the wow factor, something that will truly engage and stimulate him. I’m expecting hardy laughs and giggles.  I want the kind of laughs that make a mothers heart melt my money. This quest has gotten very expensive and I have not had much success. Most of the toys seemed so promising at first.  He would chuckle a little then eventually banish them to the pile of discarded and abandoned toys.  When you look at toys on the store shelves they stare back at you and scream for their shinny packaging that has kids playing with and loving the toy.  They seem to be screaming at you “take me home I can do the job”.  Why do the boxes never show any of the kids crying? It’s happened to me a few times. I, many of times have been let down by these toys. I’ve learned that sometimes it’s not the amount that you spend. The toys costing $1 to $5 dollars would at times really tickle my flaky toddler.

 I spoke with a friend that is still paying off her Christmas debt. During that conversation she also mentioned that she just wanted everyone to have a good Christmas totally overspent.  At the moment she didn’t even know where those Christmas debt toys were. She thought most of them had been thrown away.  After talking it had me thinking I’m going to try a three present rule for Christmas (Yeah right). I realized most parents are all the same we waste tons of money on toys for our kids and we are all looking for the same wow factor. I’m technically trying to buy happiness for my son. What makes a toy valuable to me is how happy it makes him for us to play with it. I will continue to have trial in error in my search for the toy with the wow factor. But every smile or laugh I get is well worth the bad toy choices.

 My son at 10 months

 My son at 13 months

 My son now 21 months during a playtime.