Parenting FAIL

A week or two after Eric got home from POST, Eric and I had a major parenting fail. Or maybe that is just how I see it. Maybe I'll look back on it and think, ''Oh that was nothing.'' But the one thing I'm sure of is that this will certainly not be our last parenting fail...

It was a Sunday night and Emmeline was having a hard time going to sleep. Sundays can be hard. Emmeline used to fall asleep in my arms at church and take a nap. But, gone are those days. So usually Emmeline only gets one nap all day. And as all parents know: lack of sleep means going to sleep is even harder. Which is one of the weirdest ironies ever.

So, we resorted to our crutch: the carseat. Not the best place for her to sleep, but hey we were desperate. Eric put her in the carseat (she was still in her dress... oops) and started swinging her back and forth until she feel asleep. We put the carseat in her room, and had a nice, quiet evening.

Emmeline's nap turned into sleeping the whole night--which is one of the magical things about carseats. We should have gotten her out, changed her, and put her in her crib. But we were too nervous to ruin a good thing, so she stayed in her carseat.

Well, morning came, and I woke up to silence. And it was glorious. I lied there in my bed, and thought, "This is wonderful, she's still sleeping." But then I decided to check on her. One step out of the room, and I could hear her screaming. I ran into her room. And I saw her on the floor, out of her carseat, kicking, and screaming! She had fallen out her carseat and had been lying there for who knows how long. Eric had only put on the shoulder straps, and didn't buckle the legs part. So, somehow Emmeline had wiggled out of her carseat and had landed on the floor. To say I felt bad is an understatement. I yelled to Eric, scooped her up, and cuddled her. She must have felt so abandoned, scared and cold. Falling out of a carseat must be traumatizing!

Eric came running. When I told him what happened, he also felt horrible. We both just cuddled Emmeline, hoping to make her forget her most recent traumatic experience and that she would forgive her well-meaning parents. All I can say is that at least she won't remember this--maybe it's a good thing we don't remember being babies...

We learned our lesson, well maybe three.

1. Babies really should sleep in their cribs, when possible.
2. If we put her in the carseat, we should properly buckle her in, all the way.
3. Carseat really should become a word. I'm annoyed with the red squiggly line after this post. It functions as one word, so it should be one. 

This also reminds me that we should not judge parents. I think for the most part, they really do try their best. 

Please read, this is important: What Kind of Parent Leaves their Kids in the Car? This Mom.