Not My Proudest Mommy Day

Sara, my aunt and closest confidante, who knows me well and doesn't let me get away with being...well, too ME sometimes, came to stay with me while our husbands were hunting at Woody Woods again. She helped me with some of my nesting projects like shopping for chairs and plants and planters for the deck project and putting some finishing touches in the nursery, etc. It was nice to have her company and help today. She's so great with decorating and home stuff that I almost can't do anything without wanting to consult with her. She's so creative and she gets right in and helps with the hard stuff! I just love it when she comes; she's inspiring!

Anyway, as we worked on assembling Adirondack chairs for the deck, we let Jackson play in the playroom and watch Elmo and we left the back door open so he could come outside with us if he wanted to. Because of the preschool being so child-proofed, I don't worry much about him getting into anything, just climbing up on stuff. We could see him well through the back door and double windows that were open right in front of the deck where we were at. He's pretty independent and used to playing on his own a lot so he wasn't too upset that we were outside without him. From time to time he did come outside and play in the sandbox or kick a ball around, etc, but he'd get bored after a while and want to go back inside.

As we were all finished with the chairs and watering plants and picking up our mess, Jackson came outside and heard the neighbor's dog in their backyard and went over in the corner to talk to it. (Background info - He LOVES that dog! Everyday as I'm getting ready for school, he comes in my upstairs bathroom and looks out the window to see if he can find it. He says, "Daaaw-gee. Whay aw yooo? Come pay w'meeee!" It is so cute.)

Well, today we shattered his innocent, naive love of that dog. I looked up a moment too late and saw Jackson reaching to stick his fingers in the gap between the 2 fences and the dog promptly bit his little hand. It wasn't too bad, but it scared him and hurt his feelings more than anything. The dog's teeth scratched his pointer finger and barely broke the skin in the cuticle of his thumbnail.

I felt horrible! Not only did he get a proverbial slap in the face from the dog he loves so much, but I should have known better! Ben is always telling me to keep a close eye on him and not let him stick his fingers in that gap or the dog might bite him, and I usually don't even let him go over there, but of course, today, I was working on my own projects and not watching as carefully as I usually do.

I brought him inside and cleaned his hand with soap and water and put some Neosporin and a Bandaid on the scratches, then I went next door to ask the neighbors if their dog had had its shots since the bite did break the skin a little. She opened the door and before I could utter a word, the dog (a Shitzu maybe) ran out the front door and leapt up and bit ME! I uttered a not-nice word (and where did THAT come from!? Great first impression!), and said, "Well, that is actually why I came over here..." I explained what had happened, all the while she was saying, "I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" But in a way that didn't quite seem sincere - like she was sorry it happened, but it was my fault (which the Jackson biting was, but my biting I'm not taking blame for). I apologized for my not nice word and she assured me that her dog had had its shots (Later I called - like I was gonna go knock on that door again - and asked if I could have a copy, just to be sure - was that rude? I just want to make sure we are safe.)

My bite is 5 times worse than Jackson's. It broke the skin in 3 places on the sensitive upper part of my inner right thigh next to my groin area about 4 inches below my pregnant belly. I'm fine though, no need for stitches or anything. But I was annoyed that I got attacked, too. What does that say about the dog?

Anyway, for some reason, I was upset about Jackson's dog biting incident all night. I feel so bad. It was only 3 days ago that he found an ant bed in the backyard and was bitten all over his hand, back and legs. What kind of mother am I?!!? Sigh - I know these things happen and you can't be right next to them all the time, but I can't help feeling bad. And since I am pregnant, that means I have been stupidly crying about it all night! Gotta love those pregnancy hormones!