This morning my 2 1/2 year old managed to lock herself in my car with the keys!
And, it was all my fault.
Coming back from the school run, let Faith climb into the car as I am not allowed to lift her up yet, put the keys in the ignition and start chatting to my friend.
I closed the car door as I was gossiping and let Faith pretend to drive the car. The next thing that happened is that she pushed down on the drivers door lock and hey presto one car fully locked with keys and child on the inside!" ::)
Now as a mum of 4 i should know not to leave a child in the car with the keys, it had to happen really didn't it.
After ringing M in law to get spare keys from Rob at work, and with much persuasion, Faith unrolled the back window low enough so I could get my arm in and unlock the doors. M in law arrived with spare set minutes later!
It was all ok in the end but boy did I get into a panic. Half of me is thinking she did it on purpose as she turned on the radio and sat down to play after she did it with a very big grin on her face!!!
A tip for when this happens hold your mobile next to the car door lock and get who ever has the spare set to send the auto lock bleep down the phone.
Hey! What a good idea. Does it work?
Reminds me of moving into a new house tweny odd years ago and lying on the floor (very pregnant too) trying to ignite the central heating boiler. Just me, the dog, the 3 year old and the bump in the house.In comes 3 year old to help and pulls the door to behind him. Of course the boiler cupboard door was on a latch so no way could I open it.
Some time later the metal grid had been knocked out of the door and I had managed to open it by "fishing" with the dog's lead. I don't know who was redder faced when we finally got out but James (the 3 year old) has never done it since. :) :) ::)
OMG you must have been in such a panic.
Just to make you feel better I was ironing before school one day and daughter then aged 4 was getting dressed. I told her to go in the front room away from the iron, turned my back and there she was balancing on one leg stepping into her knickers holding on to the ironing board... yes you guessed it, scalding hot iron was falling, i went to grab it, but missed and 'pushed' it onto her arm. Raced down to the drs and major burn mark - she still has the scar.
So anyway, no such thing as a perfect mother, we all make mistakes and learn from them. Dont be too hard on yourself!
Oh no, don't beat yourself up about it, they may be some perfect Mums in this world but I have never met one.I am surprised mine made it to adulthood when I look back,
Pride yourself on the things that you do that are great, the others are just chances to learn something .
Hugs to you XX Jeannine
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Coz - done it too! My eldest did it at about the same age. The worst thing was it was my dads cronky old banger, no bleepy thing to unlock doors. The front passenger window was open a crack so i had to run up the road trying to find a wire coat hanger from a neighbour, she was sat in the drivers seat laughing and turning the radio up. I managed to get the hanger in the crack but couldn't get any grip on the pully uppy lock thing. In the end i had to heat up the wire and push it into the pully uppy. She was singing away and fiddling around in the glove box all this time. It was when she produced the matches that i stopped laughing. She definately did it on purpose and all the "wind the window down for mummy" was just met with scorn and laughter.
One day i went out to take the bin out and the front door banged behind me leaving her locked in the house. I had to get her to climb onto the dining room table, fetch the keys from the shelf, then bring them to the kitchen where she had to get her step and climb onto the draining board to pass them through the window!!
Bad mother? Nah. Happens to the best of us Coz!!! OO, scary story about the iron, youngest did similar thing with cup of coffee at my mums ( what is it with my parents?) i tried to knock the cup away as she'd grabbed it and was in the middle of pulling it off the dining table. In trying to knock it away i sort of fluffed it in panic and covered her in hot coffee. If i had done nothing it would probably have just hit the floor. ::)Amazingly no scarring. I did squash her into the kitchen sink and blast her with cold water clothes and all though. Going to shut up now as sound like TERRIBLE mother, never mind bad!!
Ooo emmy i could tell you more stories but i think social services would be round LOL
Ha! Me too, as i was typing more were popping into my head. No, stop now I thought, while you're ahead!
My son was about 2 ½ years old when we were living in a block of flats in Singapore. We had all just showered and me and my OH were sat on the sofa cooling off and he was playing on the floor behind it. I heard him shout, ‘Dad, Daaad’. I looked over the back of the sofa…no sign… he shouted again, ‘Daaaad’. The shout came from the iron grilled window….all I could see were two tiny arms, the rest of him was dangling outside, 6 floors up. My OH screamed.…. I don’t think I even touched the back of the sofa, I flew over it to the window and grabbed his arms. The windows were quite low to allow more cool air in, but we never thought there was a danger because of the grills. I had a tight hold of his arms and I said, ‘Let go’….He screamed back…’No, no, no’. I said, ‘Come-on, let go.’ ‘Noooonoooonoo!’
My OH had to prise his fingers open but we had a heck of a job getting him back through the fancy grill work. It seemes his newly showered body was slippery enough to allow him to slide through, but hanging there he’d dried off a bit and wouldn’t fit back through! It was probably 3 or 4 min’s before we managed it although it seemed more like hours.
Wow Ken, that gave me shivers just reading it!
When my son was small we lived in a largish flat and he had a big double room to himself so we stored bits and pieces in there. Went to check on him in his cot before we turned in one night and couldn't open the door, the ironing board that was leant against the wall had fallen over and was trapped between the door and a wardrobe so we couldn't push it open.
After several panicky moments my husband took the bouncer apart and used an angled bit to catch the ironing board and hook it away.
I also have the obligatory coffee scald scar on my arm, luckily (touch wood!) my kids have missed out on that one.
OK, while we are all fessing up.
I once yelled something awful at my son when he was about 6.He ran out the back door with me fast on his heels.
The little horror went up a a huge fir tree like a squirrel, right up to the ruddy top, and as I went round to the side of the tree he was at, still yelling I might add, he climbed out onto a branch which promptly started to bend.
I paniced and started yelling for help.
People came out from all over but no-one could get up the tree as there were no branches low down, he must have got up with his toes in the bark!!
He then slipped and was hanging from the branch while I am below yelling "hang on," he is yelling back, " I can't". Everyone was underneath ready to break his fall when he let go.
Two men got a ladder and managed to get to the start of the branches and climbed up, they just managed to reach him.
I was never so close to spanking a child in my life as that day.
I didn't ,but it was probably because I fainted as his feet touched the ground.
He still tells everyone this story now, about how he ran away from his Mother and HAD to hide up a tree.
XX Jeannine
Quote from: grawrc on June 20, 2007, 18:47:38
Hey! What a good idea. Does it work?
Reminds me of moving into a new house tweny odd years ago and lying on the floor (very pregnant too) trying to ignite the central heating boiler. Just me, the dog, the 3 year old and the bump in the house.In comes 3 year old to help and pulls the door to behind him. Of course the boiler cupboard door was on a latch so no way could I open it.
Some time later the metal grid had been knocked out of the door and I had managed to open it by "fishing" with the dog's lead. I don't know who was redder faced when we finally got out but James (the 3 year old) has never done it since. :) :) ::)
They have done that a few times on Top Gear and it worked.
Glad Faith is ok.
when my youngest son was a toddler i used to get around on a push bike with him in a seat on the back. one day he was screaming blue murder tantrumes were not unusual so i ignored him to find when we got home his leg was rubbing on the tyre and he had a huge blister no wonder he grew up so strange he is the one i call wild child
marg
I hope social services aren't eavesdropping on this thread!
We have a cupboard under the stairs. Although it has a handle on both sides, it always reminds me of when I was about 8 or 9. I had a toy projector - ran on batteries and I had fixed up a cinema under the stairs (in the cupboard of course). Decided to give my ma a film show, got it all set up and she came into the cinema - and shup the door behind her. (as you would to, to shut out the light). But the door only had a handle on the outside. Dad was the other side of the world, not due back for months, big sister at boarding school, next door away on holiday. Was I scared. My mum wasn't all that strong (neither was I, skinny as a rake), but she managed to push the bottom of the door enough for me to squeeze through and open from the other side. If I had been chubbier ... ... who knows? ??? ??? ???
Thanks for all your stories, makes me feel a bit happier ;D. It was the second time she has been locked in the car, I did it when she was a baby too!
She has been in her element today, full tantrum et al. I think she has sussed out that I can't chase her too fast as well as not carry her..... I just lurve this age.
We all were down the plot earlier, Rob digging up the spuds, the kids were putting them all in a bag to take home and she was lobbing them out as far as she could into a big patch of weeds that we haven't cleared yet. We had to play hunt the spud for a good 15 mins!
To top it all off, got home to find I hadn't shut freezer door properly yesterday and had completely defrosted, sods law it was full! :( Lots of cooking tomorrow!
when my daughter was 3, she came in the bedroom with colours around her mouth, she opened her hand to show me some chewed up tablets and went 'yeuckky, mummy'...she had been in the medicine drawer and eaten lots of pills, including iron ones, fortunately, they tasted 'yeukky'
now, these tablets were in a locked drawer, in pots with child proof caps, the key was hung on a hook at the side of the top cupboard in the kitchen,
she climbed up, got the key, opened the drawer, got the bottles, BIT the top off, tried the tablets :o
now, that's one talented child ;D
My youngest was 3, when we went to the park with friends and their children. OH decided to put all the kids on a sheet of polythene he found (it was huge) and pull them around the grass at great speed (well as fast as he could go ;D) We thought everyone was screaming in fun, but youngest son was screaming as his elbow was off the plastic and rubbing on the ground.
It skinned his elbow, about an inch and half diameter circle. The next day, he was taken ill and had to go to hospital. Well, you can imagine the questions we faced :-[. It didnt help having to explain that his Dad was dragging him around the park on a piece of polythene. ::)
It was such a relief they believed us.
cj :)
My second son Max went through a phase of tripping over everything when he was about 3. He was constantly covered with bruises.
When I took him to the doctor for a checkup he was horrified at the extent of the bruises. Luckily for me his son and Max were best buddies at play group so he had no difficulty believing what I was saying although he did comment that another doctor would probably have notified the social services.
Mind you the serious downside is the small number of kids that do suffer horrendous abuse and never get picked up on.
Ken your story gave me goosebumps! Love it that we all have stories like this. I'm amazed that my sisters and I made it to adulthood to be honest the things we used to get up to. ;D
I'm ringing social services as I type. :o ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D Ken that was a neck tingler.
Ken, can't get over your post, must have had an awful few minutes dealing with that!
The scariest part in all that was moving him up to a slightly larger gap in the metal work as he wouldn't fit back through the hole he'd slipped through. That ment letting go and getting hold againg as we moved him up. Getting the arms and head all through a different higher hole used up just about every ounce of adrenaline.
We all collapsed on the carpet when he did finally 'pop' back through...natuarally, when I got back to near normal, I beat him up.
As you do when you're a parent
Blimey,
I feel like I had a deprived childhood now - I had to inflict all my damage by myself.
Grawrc - my mum had the same worries - father away at sea & me always covered in bruises, usually just in time for his leave to start.
Kids eh.
Okay I confess, I was a kid who locked her mother out of the house and then climbed up onto the windowsill and laughed at her . :P Heh heh heh!
I was on the receiving end... I still have a scar on my neck.. my Sister has lovely scald scars too... the old milk pan handle routine...
::)
I remember my mother knocking over a pot of coffeee when i was about four, and going to the doctors with strips of cooked skin hanging off my elbow. It all healed up though. Nothing that drastic has happened to the kids since they arrived, but Kumbi still has flashbacks and hallucinations from when she was in the fighting.
That's awful Robert. I'm guessing Africa from the name Kumbi? How horrible that even though you may find safety the horror of your past will still hang around. Hopefully time will prove to be the healer.
On a lighter note what about an adult locking family out of the car? In 2005 when my children did a big surprise birthday party for me, relatives and friends came from all round the country. Although I enjoy 1 (or 2) brandies on special occasions I am always in control. I thought I was going for an evening meal and only had a sandwich during the day. Although there was plenty of food at the party I was too excited to eat, son-in-law kept filling my glass!! Young Lorna decided to drop Joshua off at his Dad's house before taking me home. She got out the car to say goodnight to Joshua and I lent on the locking button. Apparently they were all shouting, lift the button, lift the button. I just kept waving at them in a drunken state and saying "Nigh, night darlings!!"I put it all down to drinking on an empty stomach but they do have a habit of reminding me.
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
When I was about five my mother tried to take the wrong child home after school! Her eyesight was never very good, and all children look alike when they come pouring out of the school gates. When she realised her mistake, halfway up the road, after I'd caught up with her and the poor me-substitute was trying to tell her she wasn't me, all she said was "for goodness sake, why didn't you say so in the first place?"
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D @ asbean and lorna!!
Asbean you are joking, Lorna see you down the pub in an hour. :P :P :P :P :P ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Quote from: emmy1978 on June 22, 2007, 14:02:12
That's awful Robert. I'm guessing Africa from the name Kumbi? How horrible that even though you may find safety the horror of your past will still hang around. Hopefully time will prove to be the healer.
Sierra Leone, during the coup in 1997.
I remember when i was about 4 i was ready for school and my mum told me to brush my teeth,,, well i need the loo and i was trying to explain and she was screaming 'BRUSH YOUR TEETH'.... well she wouldnt listen and she is quite a scary lady so i stood there brushing my teeth peeing myself literally.
Of course it was winter uniform - wool, dry clean only jobby... she was fuming and said 'why didnt you just go to the toilet?????'
Spent the day at my nana;s, i loved it!
YOU LOT ARE SCAREY !!!!!!
There's enough material in this lot to compile a "(Nearly) Darwin Award Book (Vol 1)". Cry, cringe, close my eyes and place fingers in ears and chant la-de-da-de-da ... or even laugh - what shall I do!
Oh ... and I broke my daughters leg - she was 12 months - not easy for the nurses to put a plaster on a very animated child! - Daughter often throws this into discussions - so that's only 21 years of guilt (so far)!
being told to "KEEP STILL WHILE YOU'RE EATING OTHERWISE YOU'LL CHOKE!!!"
...skipping round the kitchen gaily eating a Freddo the Frog chocolate bar one minute, being held upside down over the sink by the ankles the next, being pummelled by my mum and my nan frantically trying to dislodge a large lump of chocolate from my windpipe ::) ;D
Oh the last post reminds me of something I did regularly to my poor old Mum.
I used to throw temper tantrums if I couldn't get my own way and if that didn't work I upped it and held my breath.Oh, and I was really good at it. My Mum bless her fell for it every time. She would yell at my Dad to do something. Dad simply told her to ignore me, my Mum would yell at Dad that I would die or faint.Dad would calmy say, well if she faints she will breath. I would of course always do a swoon to the floor but hold my breath to prove my Dad wrong.My Mum eventually would grab me and put me under the tap at which point I would splutter and come back from the dead.
I tried it in a shop one day with my Dad, when I swooned he simply stepped over me and went down the far end of the shop, of course I had to get up and go and look for him. He was sitting on a chair reading a newspaper.He never said a word,I think that was the day I stopped.
XX Jeannine
LOL! All of these messages put my *ahem* discussion with my OH into perspective!
I was on my way to work and OH is working from home today so he was getting my youngest ready for school.
whilst preparing his brekkie (a bowl of Cinamon Grahams) he heaped a table spoon with sugar and was about to sprinkle this onto the cereal!! I just looked at him, wide eyed and said "Don't you DARE!" He said "I'm not" and proceded to sprinkle the cereal with some of the sugar!! :o I had meant "don't you dare put ANY sugar on that cereal", he clearly thought I meant "don't put that much sugar on the cereal!"
:-\ idiot!
I was furious, livid even! Cinnamon Grahams don't need any extra sugar on them - they're sweet enough!! I told him that he was stupid and asked if he did that sort of thing every time I left him to get the youngest ready for school, which of course he denied!
I left for work, announcing that I was off to tell EVERYONE how stupid he was!
when my nephew was small, he had to draw a picture of a Family Day Out. He drew a picture of a building and a little figure outside
The teacher said - who's that?
- that's me
- where are Mummy and Daddy?
- they're in the Pub
Quote from: Rhubarb Thrasher on June 28, 2007, 14:17:45
when my nephew was small, he had to draw a picture of a Family Day Out. He drew a picture of a building and a little figure outside
The teacher said - who's that?
- that's me
- where are Mummy and Daddy?
- they're in the Pub
Ha ha!! Bless him. He can join me and my sisters in the "bottle of coke with a straw, bag of crisps, get outside" brigade.
When i was little my parents ran pubs, always quite bad pubs that needed a turn around. One monday we were asked to draw a picture of something that happened at the weekend and i drew two men having a fight. Not only was my mum mortified but my scam of sneaking down stairs to nick crisps and pop was over. >:(
that reminds me... when i was about 4 I writing in my story writing book - you know the type, lined at the bottom, blank at the top to draw a picture.
Anyway i wrote a story about 'last night me and my mummy went to see her boyfriend in hospital'....
We had actually been to see her boss who was in hospital...
Teachers actually had 'words' with my mum the next day - poor mum was mortified - given that she was a happily married woman and i went to a private school too - you can imagine the whispering that went on behind her back .
;D ;D ;D
I remember when the council came and installed central heating - we had to have all the old radiators removed and my mum was busy organising where the new ones would go when there was a knock at the door, so I was sent to answer it. it was Jehovah's Witnesses and they asked if my mummy could come and talk to them. no, said I, she's busy upstairs in the bedroom with the plumber :o ;D
don't remember them ever knocking on our door again!
Love it! rofl
You all need THIS forum ;)
http://www.badmothersclub.co.uk/jsp/index.jsp?lnk=300
Funnily enough there's a username on there called 'Trixiebelle' ;)
After you've read the front page, click on 'Retell Therapy' - and 'latest discussions' at the top.
If you want to see an 'allotment-specific' thread, type 'allotment' into the search facility on the top-right-hand-side!
The 'Bad Mother's Club' is an ironically-named site. We don't torture children etc.
My very good friend Stephanie Calman set up the site to help and support mums and dads.
Enjoy :)
Bad Dad Alert
my dad once had to look after some small children, which is something that shouldn't be allowed, so he showed them some magic tricks. He did the trick with The Watch, The Handkerchief and The Hammer. One of the kids was so impressed with this, when he got home he did the trick, and smashed his dad's watch to bits before anyone knew what he was up to. Unfortunately in all the what have you been teaching my son phone call, the poor thing got hysterical, so my dad had to try calming him down by saying that the trick hadn't worked because he's forgotten to sprinkle on the Magic Dust
Hahahaha. Your Dad sounds good fun RT.
Had a nasty experience in BHS years ago. Very small child in pushchair, and 6 year old by my side. Lift opens ......and 6 year old disappears inside, doors close......she was gone :o Got person to mind baby in pushchair, legged it up the stairs, lift doors closing again, just near enough to see horrified look on SM's. face. Legged it downstairs to find nice lady had reunited SM with baby in pushchair and they were all waiting for me. I was all of a wobble I can tell you. ;D
When I was very young my father fell off a step ladder in the front room, he told me to go and tell my mother he couldn't move, some time later my mother came into the room thinking it was quiet, my dad was still lying there and asked if I had told her what had happened, she said no, then called me to ask why I hadn't told her about the accident, I replied Daddy always told me to tell tales. :-X :-X :-X ??? ;D ;D ;D
My daughter's fave tantrum was to sit in her pushchair and scream for help as we walked .I had to try and smile sweetly as she looked at other pedestrians shouting " help , Let me go etc". Not sure at the age of 10 she has completely grown out of it yet!!!
Now looking forward to the "hormone years" ................ yippe!
My brothers' kids stuck a poster in the rear window of the car saying "Help us. We've been kidnapped!"
That reminds me grawc...
In the paper the other week, a 9yo girl had been sent up to her bedroom to tidy it up - it was a STATE (just like my kids lol)... anyway she was told not to come out until it was done.... bored the girl put a sign up in the window - 'HELP, CALL THE POLICE'... Person walking by called the police.. police came in, mother hadnt a clue what was going on and told them she had sent her daughter to her room to tidy it up.
Police went in the room, took one look at the mess and said 'Tidy this room young lady you are in BIG trouble, and dont go wasting our time again!' The little girl tidied her room!
Oooooh, I'm tempted to try that tactic with my two.......I'm sure our local bobbies wouldn't mind ;D
Me too! And my two are in their twenties. :-[ :-[ ::)