The Battle Between The Crib And The Bed

Linda’s JusJoJan prompt word was provided by Liz.

Your prompt for JusJoJan January 7th, 2022, is “tempest.” Use the word “tempest” any way you’d like. Enjoy!

What makes you laugh? is the prompt for today’s bloganuary.

I had to dig deep into my scrapbooks looking for proof of what I am writing about today. Think back 46 years ago. There were no cell phones to take pictures. I had a cheap camera to record life’s moments. To process and develop pictures was not cheap. I tried to get some good shots, because you paid for all the pictures whether they were good or bad. I did find a couple that fit the bill.

Both of my daughters walked when they were very young. My older daughter independently walked just as she turned nine months old. My younger daughter walked by herself at the end of her ninth month. Along with walking early, my girls were precocious about getting out of their cribs. It was quite frightening to put the baby to bed and a few minutes later have this tiny human being come into my bedroom. I was very scared she would break an arm climbing out of the crib and falling to the ground. I debated cutting off the legs of the crib. I ended up putting pillows and blankets on the floor all around the crib.

I could never catch either of them at it. I tried hiding in the hallway. I tried making sure they were sound asleep before laying them in the crib. Nothing worked. I decided, for safety reasons, to repeat the same thing with my second daughter that I had with my first.

I still had the Hollywood beds my mom bought me years earlier. They were very low to the ground. I put side rails on the bed and allowed my daughter to sleep in the bed instead of her crib. A new comedy ensued. I would put my daughter to bed, she would scootch to the foot of the bed, climb down, and toddle into my room. I learned to not carry her back to bed, but to walk with her holding onto those tiny fingers. I swear we made no less than 15 trips each night until she was just too tuckered out to return.

The real comedy came when my MIL came to visit one day. She saw that the crib was tucked into the corner of the bedroom. She made a scene. Her arms were waving, and she was red faced. She chastised me and told me I was endangering my child’s life. Once she took a breath, I tried to explain that K² was climbing out of the crib and the fall from there was much more dangerous than from the bed I had her in. She wouldn’t listen to me, of course.  I told her I thought she was making a tempest in a teapot over this. My former MIL was frightening to me. She often questioned everything I did.

I picked up my little girl and put her in the crib. Nothing happened at first. My MIL and I retreated to my bedroom. Within minutes we peeked into the bedroom. There standing beside the bed was K² very proud of herself. She had climbed out of the crib and walked over to the bed. I busted up laughing. I was positive my little bubala would do what her new norm was.

I always laughed when I could prove I was right. There was nothing better than releasing stress with a chuckle. 

 

 

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