World’s Worst Mother, Round II

They say, when a child is being particularly quiet, you should worry. They are right.
Here’s how it happened. I was relaxing in the recliner, reading my newly arrived issue of “Parenting” (Oh the irony), with the baby happily entertaining himself at my feet. I was aware, at some point during my reading of a particularly enthralling article about antibiotics for children (they don’t treat colds, people), that the baby had crawled out of the living room (the parlor, if you prefer) and into the entry. I didn’t worry, as we have childproofed our home, and there was nothing that could possibly hurt him in the entry. Because childproofing is basically a replacement for adult-supervision, right? The electrical outlets were covered, and the stairs were blocked off with a gate.
Oh wait, the gate.
When I didn’t hear the baby after a few minutes, I interrupted my fascinating read to get up and check on him. The first thing I noticed was that the gate was, in fact, not blocking the stairs. I had left it free standing beside the stairs – apparently I forget to put it back after we came down from a nap. Lucky that he hasn’t pulled it down on his head, was my first thought. My second thought, Well, why is he no where to be seen? Then I looked up, and the gravity of the situation registered. My little baby was teetering above my head, having climbed up nine stairs in stealthy silence. I tried to appear calm, as I leaped up the stairs three at a time. The child knows how to give his mother heart palpitations.
When I got to him, he gave me the biggest grin. See how strong and capable I am, he seemed to be saying. No big deal, mom!
I however, could not get the image of what might have been out of my head for the rest of the afternoon. Broken bones, and a tiny little body crumpled at the bottom of the stairs.
There are days when I think I’m not cut out for this job.