I preach water and drink wine
As a writer for Babylove Network, I usually research on safety issues in the house and how to prevent accidents in the home. Ever since I got my baby boy, Jeff, I can’t remember him falling or having one of those ‘common’ accidents. Maybe I am a freak but I wouldn’t like any harm to come to my baby-not when it can be avoided- and so I take every imaginable measure to protect him.
When my baby started crawling I didn’t like taking him out of the house because babies at that age are quite curious and I feared he might get an infection or become dirty. I got my baby while living with my parents. I still do together with my siblings.
Naturally the only person I really trust with my baby is Mum. She takes care of my baby during the week, but on Sundays she attends women’s meetings after church and only gets back home late in the evening. So you can understand my Sunday dilemma; wondering who will be left with Jeff as I don’t like taking him with me to church. Whenever I do so I get distracted from the service as he would run around and I would be wondering what he is touching or putting in his mouth. I end up not listening to the sermon at all!
It is normally my turn to do some household chores on Sundays. My main task is preparing the Sunday dinner, which I can say is the main meal we all have together in the week. On this particular Sunday I was feeling upbeat and wanted to surprise the family with a new recipe. Before doing this, I decided to prepare Jeff a light meal.
I am a cleanliness freak hence I like to boil my baby’s bottles, tits and other utensils before he uses them, so that he does not develop any illnesses due to my carelessness. I let Jeff’s food to cool down as I boiled his utensils. Meanwhile I chopped onions in preparation for the family dinner. By this time my mother had arrived and as is habit she wanted to feed the baby herself…She took the food away in a small bowl to the sitting room. As she mashed it she instructed my 13-year-old brother to keep an eye on Jeff.
Jeff’s utensils had boiled enough and I transferred them plus the simmering water into a bowl and delivered them to Mum in the sitting room so she could use the utensils once she finished mashing the food. I rushed back to the kitchen because I love a certain soap opera that starts on television at 8 pm: I had to make sure I was done by then.
My son was on the floor as usual crawling from one-side of the sitting room to the other, while my father and two siblings who were also in the living room watching television.
I was busy frying onions while singing on top of my voice when I had screams coming from the living room. I ran from the kitchen to the sitting room and found my baby and youngest sister screaming. My mother had taken charge of the situation and was already at my baby’s side and lifted him up as I reached to pick him. My father too was trying to calm the baby. Jeff’s cry was by now a voiceless scream. He had dipped his hand in the bowl containing his utensils and the bowl tipped over, pouring the hot water on him!
My parents got busy trying to remove his pullover, which was very hot. My mind started racing, wondering whether he had also scalded his private parts. I remember urgently removing his nappy.
I felt helpless and broke down in tears. I was crying like my little baby not knowing what to do next. I wanted to blame someone for this, but who? How could so many people in one room not see the baby reaching out to the steaming bowl? Of course I was to blame as I had placed the bowl with hot water within reach of my crawling boy!
Imagine the task my mum had of soothing my baby and calming both my kid sister and I. Mum administered first aid on Jeff and my father assured me that my son was not badly hurt, but I was devastated and didn’t have the strength to continue with my cooking. I didn’t even eat that night.
By the next day he had a big blister on his right hand. After examination at the hospital he was given some painkillers and antibiotics to prevent infection.
I learned my lesson the hard way: you can never be too careful. I was so busy preventing my baby from getting dirty or being infected that I forgot to see other dangers. I protected him from others, not realising I could also pose danger to him. I consoled myself that if I had known the water would burn him, maybe I wouldn’t have boiled it so much!
Now-back to my writing skills-I am an authority on the subject: ‘as a cardinal rule, never place any hot substance within reach of young children.
END: PG 04 DEC 06-JAN 07/62