Monday, January 27, 2003
Tumbling Furniture
Parker gave the greatest scare this weekend. Attempting to clean in the living room and computer room, we relegated him to our bedroom to watch a Baby Einstein video. He started watching it on the bed, then climbed down and sat at the foot of the armoire and chest of drawers, looking up and alternating to watch it in the mirror behind him (so he wouldn't have to crane his neck). After checking in on him, I sat down to rearrange some coupons and file them. Suddenly I heard an ear-splitting crash from the other room, combining the shattering sound of breaking glass. This was quickly followed by Parker's screams.
Fearing the worst, I ran to the other room, with Kristin not fa behind. Parker has opened a bottom drawer of the chest of drawers, then the next, and then the next higher. The three open drawers had shifted the balance of the chest of drawers, and the whole kit and kaboodle, including the jewelry case on top and the iron candelabra, had come crashing down. Miraculously, Parker was completly uninjured; somehow, as he fell, he went under the bed, and the drawers fall was arrested by the ironwork on the edge of the bed. Nevertheless, several drawers did tumble out and fell over him.
I was terrified and sickened by the sight I saw of the tumbled furntiure. I threw that chest of drawers off of where I thought he, and when all I saw was a jumble of drawers, I felt numb. Kristin yanked the drawers away, and scooped Parker up (we really didn't think of what serious injuries he might have had at the time) and began to nurse him. Less than two minutes later he was back on his merry way, running to the living room and preceeding to undo all of the cleaning we had accomplished.
I had just never given thought to the bedroom furntiure before. The office furniture is secured to the wall, as is his room's chest of drawers. In retrospect, it should have been obvious. It's the flimsiest pre-fab Lowe's had to offer, and we should have done it right away. Well, it will be tonight, as soon as I get home. It goes to show you can't be too careful.
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