One of her favorite things to do was sit in the sink to splash in water on those hot summer days. I always stayed right next to her as she splashed to her hearts content.
One hot and humid day followed the next and her time spent in the sink increased to several times a day. One afternoon she was once again splashing away when a thunder storm approached. She wasn't ready to get out of the water and so I simply closed the window and stupidly allowed her to continue playing.
A minute later when another bolt of lightening flashed even closer Sunbeam catapulted out of the sink as if she had been shocked. I felt like a horrible mother as I picked her up. I wished she would cry as she simply lay limply in my arms.
A visit to the doctor confirmed that she had indeed been shocked by that lightening. She soon seemed to be okay and there was nothing else that we could do for her except not repeat that stupid mistake. I still feel horrible when I think of it and we now avoid all water during thunderstorms, both outside and inside the house.
Sweet friend,
ReplyDeleteThe Lord was right there with your precious daughter. We all do things we regret; we are not perfect. Thank goodness for a loving Heavenly Father. Thank you for your transparency.
I hesitated a little to even share this post but thought if it keeps even one mother from making the same mistake I did it will have been worth it.
ReplyDeleteVery Glad you did share.
ReplyDeleteI will remember this story and take heed.
I think the Lord allows for parents to make some mistakes so they may learn that God is with them the whole way.
Honestly, isnt it a miracle any of us survived to adult hood!?!
You are a wonderful parent, there is no doubt about it.
My Mum always told me not to go into the bath during a thunderstorm. I thought she was nuts but I guess she wasn't. :P
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that your daughter was OK and truthfully, that is something that could have happened to anyone. Nobody thinks that something like that is going to occur.
Thanks for sharing. I know how hard it is to talk about parenting mistakes, especially with babies. :)
((Hugs))
Laura
How terrifying! And yes this is another person warned by that. I had no idea it could work that way!
ReplyDeleteYes, we are all just human - the way God made us. Your story reminded my husband of all the times he and his childhood friends swam in a spring-fed pond during thunderstorms. o.O
ReplyDeleteYou weren't to know... There's no guarantee that could happen. At least she was OK afterwards!
ReplyDeleteThe chances of this happening were so small. You must not beat yourself up over it. Any parent who believes they never have or never will make a mistake is fooling themselves.
ReplyDeleteRemember your parents leaving the heater in your caravan room? It was an accident that happened in an attempt to keep you warm and safe and didn't make them bad parents, did it? You too,just wanted your little girl to be cool and happy and did what you did for the best of reasons.
YOU'RE A GREAT MOTHER!! Just ask your happy, healthy kids!
Sometimes those crazy accidents happen! Don't they? Just last night I had my girls "watching" their 1 yr.old pre-walking sister in the tub and she pulled herself right out and slipped on the floor! I felt so terrible, I just went to grab some pajamas! A lesson learned!
ReplyDeleteAwww, we all make mistakes. I'm glad you shared, like you said it will help someone else. I remember my 4th grade Sunday School teacher sharing that when she was little she was washing dishes during a storm. She had her hands in the water and got a big shock when lightning struck nearby. I've always remembered that story and stay away from water during storms. Now I tell that story to my children.
ReplyDelete~Terri
I never would have thought that... I've taken showers during thunderstorms more times than I could count! Thank God for His protection.
ReplyDeleteOh, gosh, you're giving me flashbacks. When my now-9-year-old son was maybe 10-11 months old (not walking, but pretty close), I had turned on the water in the bathtub so I could give him a bath. I walked into the adjoining bedroom to get something (clean clothes? Don't remember) and heard him scream. I raced back and, of course, he had crawled up onto the platform where the tub was, and gone in headfirst. Fortunately, he was a really strong kid so he had braced himself with his arms, kept his head out of the water, and howled. (WHY DID MY DAUGHTER NEVER DO THIS CRAZY STUFF?)
ReplyDeleteYou're not the only one.
Wow, what a scary story! I'm glad she doesn't show any long-term effects from that. Thank the Lord!
ReplyDeleteAs mothers, we want our children to be happy, and when the simplest of pleasures make them so, we tend to edge up to that line of "What were you thinking!?!?" My brush against that line was when we sold our home in Tulsa and the week we were to move discovered bicycles on sale. Excellent price, so we bought each of our three children one. They were 5, 6 and 8 and had ridden bicycles before, and weren't to ride them until our move -- into a quite neighborhood on a dead end street, no traffic except known neighbors. They begged, and pleaded, and I gave in with a mother's best command, "Be careful." The screech of brakes brought me to the picture window as son's bike lay on the ground, with him, in front of a car. By the time I reached him, neighbors had him wrapped in a blanket and an ambulance called. Fortunately, he had a bump on his noggin and a couple of bruises, the driver calmed down and lowered her blood pressure, and the bike was fixable. Oh, yes -- we've all been there!
ReplyDeleteThat is how you learn, I guess. You are not a terrible mother... I'm sure every mother has those moments. Praise the Lord she was fine!
ReplyDeleteBlessings~
Mikailah
I know two people who were struck by lightening while the sun was shining! when my daughter was two, she was in the garage playing with her older brother. I ran inside, only a few steps away to check on dinner simmering on the stove. next thing I knew, my across the street neighbor was carrying her back across the street! and our garage is a fair distance from the road! Thank God she did not get hit!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this. you may very well have saved another child's life by posting this.
ReplyDeleteBlessings, Joanne
Wow, how frightening. Thank you for sharing this story. I consider myself a very cautious person and I would have never guessed that something like this could happen. I am sure you never guessed it either! I always thought that the lightening had to strike the water in order to cause shock. It never occurred to me that the water inside a house might also carry the shock. No water when there is lightning- check!
ReplyDeleteI am a 65 year-old lady, and I would have never thought of not going near water inside my home. Your post is educating many of us. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI did not know that could happen?! Not taking a shower during a storm ever again. As many others have already said here, we all make mistakes and have regrets. Thankful your Sunbeam is still shining! :)
ReplyDeleteI am so glad everything was OK. Thanks for the reminder that we need to be careful during storms.
ReplyDeleteI was reading through some of the other comments, and it's amazing how something bad can happen so quickly!
Hope you're having a great week. :)
I remember when I was about 4, my 12 year old sister was washing dishes during a thunderstorm. Her hands were in the dishwater when lightening struck and she was electrocuted. It wasn't anything serious, thank the Lord. Ever since then I've refused to be anywhere near water during a thunderstorm, and I won't let my kids, either. Sometimes you have to live and learn. I'm so glad that Sunbeam was okay. I love that picture of her. She was an adorable baby!
ReplyDeleteYOWZA!!! I always heard to stay out of water during a storm but never gave it much thought - but I will now! Poor thing ~ thank goodness she's just fine now. ♥
ReplyDeleteVERY frightening and understandable.
ReplyDeleteMany years ago when I was in ...probably 4th grade, we were given a "comic" style book on 'How to Stay Safe during a Thunderstorm' or something like that. It warned us of water, metal pipes, trees, NO telephones, unplug appliances, stay away from windows, don't touch the metal part of the inside of your car (handles were metal back in the day)if you get caught outside in a thunderstorm always be the shortest object by curling up into a ball but keep your feet on the ground; if you feel the hair on your arms start to stand up, drop to the ground and roll like a log and don't stop for a good distance as the electrical charge is building up and you are being 'set up as a target'... it was enough to scare me into memorizing all of it. Oh, and even though we live in the northeast we also learned to get into a ditch if we saw a tornado coming if we were outside and inside we were to go to the lowest level of the house and crouch against a west wall. ... I think they need to bring back those safety manuals for kids! I can still "see" some of their pictures and it's been 49 years since I was in 4th grade!
HUGS!