I meant to do a Throwback Thursday post last week and I completely forgot. I figured I could post it today, though, and call it something else . . . Monday Memories? That’s pretty corny and not as edgy as Throwback Thursday. Maybe I should just forget about alliteration and get on with it.
And so I have a picture of Hannah on her first Thanksgiving that I want to share with you.
This was November 26, 1992. Twenty one years ago tomorrow. My baby girl was exactly 12 weeks old.
Of course she’s wearing a velvet dress. Back in the day when I had any say at all on what she wore on a holiday it always involved velvet. And the blue went with her eyes. And the smocking, well, I just love smocking on a little girl’s dress. The tights and the shoes? Oh my. And I tried with her hair but there just wasn’t enough for a bow in those days.
But what’s up with her right hand? That little “paw” there? Hold onto your hats because this is the part where I admit that I was a bad mother.
You see, I went back to work after my maternity leave on the Monday of Thanksgiving week. I figured a short week was a good way to ease back into work life and I was out of paid time and so it was decided that I would return to work on Monday the 23rd. Being a good wife and mother, I purchased a pot roast to put in the crock pot for that morning. I thought it would be nice to come home after that first day to a ready-made dinner and a wonderful smelling house. I got up extra early that morning and I put the roast in the crock pot on the kitchen counter. I went about the business of getting Hannah and I ready and then I laid her jacket out on the counter and set her on top of it so that I could put it on her – something I had done every time we went out for weeks.
She started crying but that wasn’t unusual since I was stuffing her into her jacket and she often fussed about that. As I went to put her right arm into the sleeve of her coat I saw the red mark and, I’ll admit, I was completely baffled at first. And then I realized – when I laid her on the counter her little hand had gone right up against the hot crock pot. The crying was because she was in pain not because she was mad about the jacket.
I had burned my baby’s hand.
I had burned my baby’s hand and she was crying and I ignored it and thought she was just fussy.
I had burned my baby’s hand and it was already starting to blister.
I brought her straight to my mom’s house – she lived about 5 minutes away. My mom took right over and offered to bring Hannah to the doctor so that I could head to work. I didn’t dare call in, although, looking back on it, I could have and my boss would have understood. So off my mom went with Hannah and off I went to work, crying the whole way.
Worst first day back to work story ever, right?
The burns were second-degree, of course, and we had to use silvadene cream and keep a sterile gauze bandage on it for a bit. And that’s why my baby has a white paw in all of the pictures from her first Thanksgiving.
Mother-of-the year 1992 right here, folks.
Aww…. I’m sure Hannah’s forgiven you long ago. New Mom’s do the best they can and accidents still happen – yep I should know. But as my Mom once told me – you survived and he/she will too! Ask me about the time my son ate raw hamburger while “helping” me make a meatloaf. Yep he survived in spite of me freaking out.
EVERY mom, I bet, has an awful story like that, probably at least one per child – if they admit it. Me? Shut #1 daughter’s finger in a closet door – she zoomed over in her wheeled walker and stuck her finger in the crack just as I was shutting the door. Burned #2 daughter’s neck with a hot car seat buckle (oh wait, that was her father’s doing) AND snipped a tiny scar in her eyelid while trimming her bangs.
Every new mothers worst nightmare! Even an older sister can tell stories of being a bad guardian of the baby. I’m sure I can come up with a story for each child in my care over he years. Hannah looks darling and I thought the white paw might be a sock to keep her from sucking her thumb. Love the blue velvet dress!
Oh she’s adorable! And that dress is gorgeous! I was mother of the year when I gave Dan a plastic knife to use at around 3 so he could “help” me. Three stitches later…
The pretty blue dress, tights and shoes…perfect. The little bandaged hand…something all of us have gone through. The kids survive that kind of thing better than the moms do!
We had a lot of those velvet dresses for the holidays on Nicole too. I don’t think a Christmas went by for the first 4 years where velvet wasn’t involved.
We all have those bad mommy stories. I left Nicole in her stroller in the living room while I got her jacket in her bedroom. She wasn’t really mobile so I didn’t strap her in. I came out of the bedroom to hear “thump”. She had fallen right out of the stroller and onto her head. I wanted to die. She was fine, but it scared the daylights out of me. We were both crying for a while!
Awww! Hugs to you, Carole. I think every mom has one of these stories. I got Kyra’s neck caught in the zipper of her coat one year. She had a mark on her neck for the longest time.
I had an irrelevant comment all ready, but it doesn’t work here. The fact that you were so sad about what happened shows what a good mom you are. Today’s comments are great!
She seems to have turned out just fine! But I know what it’s like, living with those parenting mistakes we all make. If we can be kinder to ourselves!
Accidents happen. Truly.
Hannah’s adorable, bandage and all. Like many others have said, we’ve all got our own bad mother stories. I accidentally zipped my youngest son’s lip into his snowsuit zipper when I was in too much of a hurry. After blood, tears, and much guilt on my part, he still has a scar on his lip 20 years later – I actually did scar him for life!
You’re a mother. Period! I’m more than a little suspicious when there’s no calamity to report (or when the house where a child lives is too clean). I “kicked” Katie down an entire flight of stairs — hardwood, no carpeting — holding a baby Ali in my arms and unable to see that Kate was right there. Luckily, no (obvious) permanent damage!!
Oh, no. We need to share that honor. Back in 1992 (probably about the same time your dear little Hannah had her Crock Pot incident), my curious Baby Brian grabbed the barrel of my hot curling iron. Oh, man. . . did he howl! We had silvadene cream for that one, too.
It happens, Carole. Even to the BEST of moms. (Like you!)
(What a sweet little pumpkin she was!)
I left toddler Sara in the shopping cart and it tipped over. on top of her. no permanent damage 🙂 as evidenced by the comments, we ALL have stories to share. you reacted well – and have an adorable photo to prove it (and remind you!)
Aww, she is adorable! I am way behind on the Crock Pot craze- I just started with my first one ever last week and I too burned myself. I totally didn’t realize how hot the housing would be. I feel for you about the motherly guilt, but as lessons go, that one probably stuck with you and might just have prevented a far worse accident. Remember it was an accident. When my mother was hurrying in the kitchen with her first baby, my brother, she didn’t notice that he had climbed up on her little step stool and as she had her back turned, he fell with both arms into her cast iron skillet that had 1/2″ or so of hot oil in it that she was heating to fry some okra. She had crazy guilt, but there is something amazing about how well baby skin can heal with quick treatment- my brother never had but the slightest scaring on his arms. I never knew by looking at him, and only saw traces after I first heard the story and looked very closely at the insides of his arms. Everything is relative, and an opportunity to learn and heal.
Oh, yeah, I’ll spare you my Bad Mother stories. Happily, babies are amazingly resilient.