Mommy of the year award goes to...

Well, it certainly doesn't go to me. Where do I begin? My son survived the day, so I guess that is a start. We have a fence around the house to keep the horses out, but it's not designed to keep the dogs in so we have a hot wire around the bottom. I have been telling Hayden that it's "hot, don't touch". Today he grabbed the wire and nothing happened, thank goodness. But if it didn't shock him, it won't keep the dogs in. I got my tester and it was working. About that time, he comes over and leans on the fence. It shocked him through his jeans and he cried. I mean he screamed and when he was done screaming, and I was done comforting him, he walked away sucking on his fingers. He doesn't do that. He has never used a pacifier, sucked his thumb or even taken to a bottle. Ok, guilt is bad, but I know he will be ok. He's been trying to climb through the fence lately and I have to tell myself that a little shock is better than being kicked by a horse.

Then, after dinner I put him in his room so that I could go feed the horses. I took the monitor so that I could hear him. He's crying, of course, because he doesn't want to be left. While I'm outside, he starts crying louder, but then gets quiet. It's 7:00p.m. so he's probably getting tired, but something just doesn't seem right. I lock the gate and run back to the house. When I get in, I'm still thinking that he's probably asleep so I grab some p.j.'s out of the basket on the counter and head to his room. When I walk in, he looks up at me with the most pitiful face I have seen and starts crying again. I look down and realize that his left arm is stuck in his "busy ball popper" and he's trapped. Once I get his arm out, I sit holding him and just cry along with him. He's done this before, but never gotten it wedged in there so badly. The guilt is worse now.

And finally, in the bath tub he is laying on his stomach like a frog, kicking his feet. He loves to do this and always puts his mouth under water. This time the water got in his mouth and he jumped up red eyed and coughing. It took him a moment to get his wits about him. I swear that I am not trying to harm my child. Craig tells me that "boys will be boys" and to be prepared that this is just the beginning of what is to come in his life. That may be, but my heart can't take all this in one day. I wonder how much a pallet of bubble wrap would cost.