It's amazing how some people can live to a hundred and others die before they really even have a chance at life. There are constant reminders all around us how we, or the people we love, can be gone in the blink of an eye. These reminders come in many forms. It may be an article in a magazine, a headline in the newspaper, a report on the radio, or even something as seemingly mundane as a talk show. There are also reminders every day of a higher power. We may choose to ignore these signs, but every now and then an event makes us acutely aware of their existence.
It wasn't long ago I was watching Montel (yes, when you have two boys you resort to such things when you've had enough of Dragon Tales and Spongebob) and they were talking about a little girl who climbed up on top of a dresser and knocked it over on top of herself and died. They said if it had a strap holding it to the wall this could have been avoided. I told myself that was a great idea. I should do that because Alex (my 3 year old) likes to climb on top of his bookshelf and dresser. I made a note to myself that I would go to the store and get some safety straps.
Well, time went on and I put it off. He'd climb on the dresser and I'd tell him to get down, and that it wasn't safe, and then I'd remind myself to get those straps and shortly thereafter I'd forget. Then it would happen again and I'd tell myself I need to go to the store and get the straps but I'd forget again.
CHAPTER 2
My new house (well, I've been there two years but I still call it my new house) has a bigger master bedroom than my old house. So much bigger that Jenny and I decided to get all new bedroom furniture when we moved in. Immediately after getting the new furniture we realized that it wasn't so much that our new bedroom wasn't so big, our old bedroom was just really small. We have talked about getting rid of the new furniture for smaller furniture so we can actually walk around our bed. We have a TV in our bedroom. It has a built-in DVD player.
I was brushing my teeth yesterday and Alex decided he wanted to watch Thomas [the Tank Engine]. Alex, trying to show his independence, decided he didn't need to ask for Daddy's help. He could do it all by himself. I was brushing my teeth when I heard the crash. I looked out from the bathroom and could see immediately what had happened. See, the TV is on top of my dresser. To get to it Alex had opened the bottom two drawers and used them as a ladder. His weight tipped the dresser over on top of him, TV and all.
A MIRACLE IN THE FORM OF UNDERESTIMATED SQUARE FOOTAGE AND OVERSIZED BEDROOM FURNITURE
Remember how I said we could barely walk around our bed? We have a sleigh style frame and when the dresser tipped it was stopped by the corner of the foot of it. The space was so tight the drawers didn't even come out. The TV flew right over the top of his head and get this - landed on a pillow. Alex was cradled, screaming on the ground between the TV and dresser. Not a scratch on him. Through his tears he just kept saying "I just wanted to see Thomas. I just wanted to see Thomas." The TV is fine. We watched Thomas for an hour. I also stopped at Home Depot and got saftey straps for all of my dressers and bookshelves.
It wasn't long ago I was watching Montel (yes, when you have two boys you resort to such things when you've had enough of Dragon Tales and Spongebob) and they were talking about a little girl who climbed up on top of a dresser and knocked it over on top of herself and died. They said if it had a strap holding it to the wall this could have been avoided. I told myself that was a great idea. I should do that because Alex (my 3 year old) likes to climb on top of his bookshelf and dresser. I made a note to myself that I would go to the store and get some safety straps.
Well, time went on and I put it off. He'd climb on the dresser and I'd tell him to get down, and that it wasn't safe, and then I'd remind myself to get those straps and shortly thereafter I'd forget. Then it would happen again and I'd tell myself I need to go to the store and get the straps but I'd forget again.
CHAPTER 2
My new house (well, I've been there two years but I still call it my new house) has a bigger master bedroom than my old house. So much bigger that Jenny and I decided to get all new bedroom furniture when we moved in. Immediately after getting the new furniture we realized that it wasn't so much that our new bedroom wasn't so big, our old bedroom was just really small. We have talked about getting rid of the new furniture for smaller furniture so we can actually walk around our bed. We have a TV in our bedroom. It has a built-in DVD player.
I was brushing my teeth yesterday and Alex decided he wanted to watch Thomas [the Tank Engine]. Alex, trying to show his independence, decided he didn't need to ask for Daddy's help. He could do it all by himself. I was brushing my teeth when I heard the crash. I looked out from the bathroom and could see immediately what had happened. See, the TV is on top of my dresser. To get to it Alex had opened the bottom two drawers and used them as a ladder. His weight tipped the dresser over on top of him, TV and all.
A MIRACLE IN THE FORM OF UNDERESTIMATED SQUARE FOOTAGE AND OVERSIZED BEDROOM FURNITURE
Remember how I said we could barely walk around our bed? We have a sleigh style frame and when the dresser tipped it was stopped by the corner of the foot of it. The space was so tight the drawers didn't even come out. The TV flew right over the top of his head and get this - landed on a pillow. Alex was cradled, screaming on the ground between the TV and dresser. Not a scratch on him. Through his tears he just kept saying "I just wanted to see Thomas. I just wanted to see Thomas." The TV is fine. We watched Thomas for an hour. I also stopped at Home Depot and got saftey straps for all of my dressers and bookshelves.