Friday, December 19, 2008

Toby's Tears

Yesterday, we had a minor scare when this silly cancer patient decided to climb on top of two suitcases to put a dangerous toy out of toddlers' reach. I lost my balance and toppled down, landing on my back. I've seen enough movies and TV to know that when you land on your back, you don't move, just in case you've done something to your spine.

The noise I made on the way down - the suitcases tumbling down on top of each other, me landing on the toys littering the floor, a number of things - caused an almighty crash; much louder than the actual danger represented. My in-laws, who are here visiting from the U.S., sounded the alarm and Tony, Josie, and Nana came running in from the pool, dripping wet and scared.

The reaction that really made an impression on me was Toby's. He was in the room when I fell, and the first thing I remember when I found myself lying on that floor was little Toby sitting by my side, his arms around my neck, crying softly and saying, "Mommy? Mommy?"

These were new tears that I'd never seen from Toby before. I've seen angry, frustrated tears, tantrum tears, sad tears. But these were scared tears. The poor little guy was frightened for his mommy. He knew I was hurt (the noise must've really startled him) and he wanted to take care of me but didn't know how.

There are some lessons I've taken away from this incident:

1) Toby is not oblivious to my weakened condition and notices when I need help.

2) Toby has a soft heart for his mommy, even though he acts like a toughie.

3) I need to stop climbing on suitcases.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You forgot about a cute and sweet moment. In those first scary and uncertain moments Toby was hovering around and my only consideration of him was that he was in the way. I cleared a little space around you, including Toby. Poor little guy.

Once we were pretty certain nothing too serious had happened – you could feel and wiggle your toes, there were no visible injuries – I asked you what you landed on and where does it hurt. You said your back. We waited a few more seconds and sat you up on the floor.

Then Toby scooted in. He passed me, got down low, went around you, and gave you a kiss on your back. Then he went to your lap and you gave him a bid hug and a kiss. It was ridiculously cute.

love Jamie