Why my child will never get into Harvard

Thud.

Picture in your head the sound of an unripe melon hitting the floor after being dropped 3 1/2 feet and you still won't be close to the sickening sound of Julia's head hitting the floor after falling off of my bed. The very same bed that the hubby put her on while we were putting together some clothes to bring to the drycleaner. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a flash of pink and Aaron diving across the bed. Like a bad movie he yelled "Nnnnnoooooooooooo" like in slow motion - and then there was the thud. Actually, it was more like THUD. I'm sure I will never forget that sound for the rest of my life. She's fine, thank God. She cried immediately after falling so she didn't lose consciousness, and she has a bump on her forehead and a bruise but she's happy and smiley now. I'm not. I woke up on at least 6 different occasions last night with bad dreams.

I think Aaron feels worse about it today than Julia does. Especially since I warned him to watch her closely because she moves so quickly these days. But, as he told me later, he "only turned his back for a second".

Its a learning experience, he said.

A LEARNING EXPERIENCE?

No, a learning experience is having her roll off of the couch (yeah, that one was my fault). The couch is only about a foot and a half high, two feet tops. The bed is ridiculously high. Like waist high. Like I needed a step stool to get into it after I came home from the hospital after delivering her high. And the floor is hard wood, not carpeted. And she's MY BABY! I've never been so scared in all my life.

I forgive him, of course I do. It was a mistake and he's learned from it. But I'll never let him forget it. Every time she comes home with a bad grade, or a low score on her SAT, or some moron of a boyfriend I'll remind my hubby that its his fault because he turned his back for a second. Until then, we'll just nickname her "Lumpy". See - I can laugh about it now.