When my daughter Taylor was born, I was a young mother with all the fears that everyone has. Will she be healthy, will she love me as much as I love her? I didn't think it was possible to be any more scared than I was.
We lived with my parents—I was a single mom in college and a job. Thank god for parents, I was using them as my template for raising my own small daughter on my own. I have a wonderful set of parents that have been there for me weather I was listening or not. My mother had a huge dining room table that, when Taylor was small, could run under. When she had grown, she went at break neck speed and ran forehead first into the table.
Down she went, but she didn't cry. She got up and kept going at full speed. After that there were other incidents where she would run full tilt into the door frame, or anything that was right dead in front of her—including the adults that happened to be in the way. I took her to the eye doctor and found out she had Lazy Eye, and was in danger of using her sight. Following was years of surgery starting when she was small and going on until she was 7 to try to correct it. Taylor was fearless...wish her mother had her courage! She was fitted with corrective glasses and those seemed to work.
The next thing that happened was she dislocated her elbow...four times in one year. She was a bull in a china shop. The first time was when she was playing and fell and it popped out. I being still a relatively new mother did what came natural...I freaked out. My father came running and then he seen the mangled arm and he freaked out, that was his very first grandchild and she was his eyes, heart and soul. So with one adult and a semi- adult (me) we took off to the hospital.
The doctor on duty took in the nervous tablu and smiled, "this is a common injury in small children" He proceeded to grab her delicately on either side of her small elbow and popped it back into place. Taylor let fly with a rapid fire shot of baby cussing, probably cursing his children's children's children. Shot him a look of disgust and hopped off the table and went straight...to my dad.
