When I was 10, we moved from our 2-bedroom apartment to a 3-bedroom apartment because then, our family had 2 kids. My brother is 8 years younger than me, so for the first year or so, he slept either in my parents’ bedroom, or for a time, in my room. Being boy and girl, it was obvious that it would not work too long, so that is when we moved.
Visiting the new apartment
Of course, I was not involved in visiting places before my parents picked a place but when they finally chose the apartment, they brought us to visit. It was on my birthday, on April 22nd.
Ahead of time
Back then, everyone was moving on May 1st. I still don’t understand why as it was affecting kids going to school as it meant changing school before the end of the year. In any case, the apartment was going to be available on April 29th, for moving in, so it was just one week before, that I visited the place.
Everyone in
As we came, I remember the long stair case, and I was impressed. At our previous apartment, the same height was split in 3 shorter flights of stairs. So I went up, with my parents, and they had my brother in their arms as he was only 18 months old. The landlord also came with us.
Visiting the place
As we came in, my mom showed me where would be my bedroom, their bedroom and my brother’s bedroom. It was all new. It was the first time I moved (that I remembered).
The door!
Suddenly, we heard multiple thuds. Everyone turned to the front door. It was open! Everyone rushed to the top of the stairs to see my brother, down at the bottom, his forehead bleeding. He was not even crying, but just looked up in our direction.
Oh my God!
That is when my dad panicked and rushed down the stairs, yelling. And that is what scared my brother who started crying.
Where is the hospital?
Being at a new place in town, my parents didn’t know where was the nearest hospital so it took a bit of searching to find it. Someone went with my brother, while I stayed behind. I am not sure who stayed with me, but I didn’t go to the hospital.
Permanent scar
My brother came home with a stitched up cut on his forehead and no other injury. The only thing permanent will have been the scar, which he used to show proudly, when he was older, by just lifting his bang!
I remember that I got blamed for not having closed the door, but I understand that was in the heat of the moment, when my dad saw an open door. I was 10, and I am not even sure if I was the last one to enter, but I guess everyone thought someone else was going to close that door!
How about you? Did you ever fall down the stairs without any major injuries? Younger kids are often more flexible so they usually get fewer broken bones than adults taking the same falls. What story does this trigger for you? Share it with our listeners.
2 thoughts on “Remember when…? – Toddler fall”
I am very lucky. I haven’t fallen downstairs nor has anyone in my family (that I know of). I have, however, had a few tumbles down small hills (the result being some pretty impressive scrapes but no broken bones). I have a fear of falling so I tend to grab on to hand rails when I am going up or down (which are not always available on hills) so that may be the reason for my lack of incident on steps. I am not an athletic or very coordinated person but the one thing that I learned how to do was relax when I fall (the more you stiffen, the more likely you are to break a bone). My most impressive fall (if you can call it that) was recent but didn’t involve a stairway. I was moving toward the backdoor and tripped on something. Somehow, as I fell forward, I turned in the air and landed on the most cushioned part of my anatomy. I ended up facing in the opposite direction I had been walking, which means that I did something cats take for granted (except I didn’t land on my feet). I’ve no clue how I did it, but I didn’t break anything and only had a couple of bruises to show for the event.
Even without any bad luck, you still had a little story to tell!