The joys of parenthood...

Let me preface this story by saying nobody was seriously hurt. Isn't that a great way to start a story? Doesn't it build tension and heighten the antici--pation? Actually, it probably lessens the dramatic tension, but I don't want anyone to worry while I'm telling it. I'm considerate that way. Anya's fingers are fine today. Dhara's back is ok. DH and I did not have a heart attack. Maybe a couple of heart palpitations, but that's it. Just to let you know.

Get on with it!

OK then.

Emerald was visiting last night after dinner, and all the kids were in the back room playing, noisily. DH and I were in the living room, perhaps unwisely. Suddenly we heard Anya let out a terrible shriek and start to cry and scream. We ran to the back room, where we saw Anya, climbing halfway up the window, her toes wedged into the handles of the window, and her fingers around the top of

(We interrupt this narrative to go see why Anya is crying and wailing. Elora has just bitten her on the arm. We now return you to your regularly scheduled story.)

Where was I? Oh yes. Anya was on the lower panel(?) of our double hung window which was raised halfway up, her feet in the handles, fingers wedged in at the top between the wooden frame and the crosspiece of the outer window. Does that make sense? The pressure lock that was supposed to hold up the window wasn't very strong, so when she climbed up, the pane slid down, stopping only because her fingers were wedged in between the wooden pieces. She was stuck, her weight dragging the window down, clamping her fingers. All this I saw in a second or two, before I noticed Dhara, IN the windowsill, UNDERNEATH the precariously supported window. I'm afraid I said a bad word.

DH grabbed Anya and tried to loosen her fingers, I reached for Dhara just as the window slipped further, scraping Dhara's naked back. DH lifted Anya down and we sat on the couch for a minute, her fingers red and swollen slightly, cuticles bleeding. DH went to get ice while I asked Emerald what had happened. She had been hiding in the play tent since we got in the room. Emerald told me they BOTH had been climbing the window, apparently with Dhara underneath it, before it had slipped and stopped, trapping Anya's fingers.

I'm really glad the window got caught on her fingers, because I can't imagine what would have happened if the entire weight of the window plus Anya and Emerald had slammed down on top of Dhara. I'm getting all nervous and panicky again just thinking about it.

So that was our joyous parenting experience last night. Anya's fingers turned out to be fine. Now I should probably go check her arm again for bruising where Elora bit it...