So, apparently my daughter up and decided that life? It was just too hard and she couldn’t take it anymore. Being the drama queen that she is, she chose a rather violent and dramatic way to take her own life, but did we expect any less from her? We did not.
Cleatus was off work yesterday so I did what any normal mother with another adult in the house would do. I took a nap. At some point, unfortunately not very long in to my nap, I heard Cleatus and Cindy-Lu in the bathroom with the water running and Cindy-Lu screaming. Cleatus was repeating to her that she should NEVER do that again and ARE YOU OKAY, DOES IT STILL HURT? I decided that napping might not be such a good idea and I got up to see what the problem was.
Apparently my little girl got a hold of my car keys. Nothing new there. She is always digging around in my purse and stealing stuff. She likes to find $20 bills and pass them to all of us saying “One for mommy, one for daddy, one for Bubba, one for me!” (I don’t normally keep money in my purse for just this reason.)
Where was I? Oh, yes. She gets my car keys and heads to the nearest outlet. (And I don’t mean outlet mall.) Being three years old, one would expect that she is past this stage in her life. One may even assume that because she really never entered this stage in the first place that we were just planning to skip it altogether. One would be wrong. She pokes one of my keys in the outlet, Cleatus hears a buzzing noise and turns around to see sparks shooting out of our wall and Cindy-Lu wandering away. He grabs a hold of her, feels her heart, decides that she will live (he thinks he is a doctor all of a sudden) and heads to the outlet to extract my mangled car keys. In the meantime, Cindy-Lu wanders over to the couch to lay down and think about what has happened. When Cleatus asks if she is okay she gets all pissy with him and then starts crying. Her hand hurts.
(I know. I switched tenses in that last paragraph and now I’m about to do it again. Electrical shock does that to me.)
I called the doctor and they said to just keep an eye on her and we did, but what were we looking for really? A heart attack? If she clutches her chest or complains of left arm pain, head to the nearest ER? Ok. Got it. WHAT IF I CLUTCH MY CHEST OR COMPLAIN OF ARM PAIN? Because, dude. My heart. It is racing.
Long story long short, Cindy-Lu lives. She tried to off herself, but it appears that she did not succeed. Her fingers hurt for a bit, but there were no actual burns. My keys on the other hand are a little charred, the key ring is chipping apart a bit and if you touch it your fingers get black, burnt smudges on them.
All in all, I’ll take the burnt smudges so long as they are coming from my keychain and not my baby girl.
Gawd. Happy weekend.
sam says:
God. My brother did that when he was little and knocked out the power to out entire neighbourhood.
I’m so glad that she’s alright (and that you fixed the paragraphing of that post. It was like reading one complete run-on sentence for me.)
I hide my purse for that very reason – and dammit, I don’t want my money stolen!
sam’s last blog post..At Least the Computer Hard Drive is Still In Tact. For Now.
March 7th, 2008 at 9:15 am
Karly says:
Sam,
For some reason whenever I publish in Safari it removes all my paragraphs. I usually don’t use the Mac to blog for that reason, but I forgot this morning!
Was your brother okay after knocking out all the power? Good Lord…you’d think that would have hurt him!
March 7th, 2008 at 9:21 am
LifeAsIKnowIt says:
How scary!! Glad she is okay.
I think I did that with bobbypins when I was little…
LifeAsIKnowIt’s last blog post..I Didn’t Know
March 7th, 2008 at 9:39 am
Vicky says:
Oh my God. Scary. I’m glad she is alright. I moved my keys right after reading this.
Vicky’s last blog post..Pre-School Decisions
March 7th, 2008 at 9:43 am
kelli in the mirror says:
When I taught SIXTH grade, I had a kid stick a long pair of scissors in the outlet. Blue flame shot out about two feet and the kid next to him, who didn’t even do it, had to go to the nurse.
Be glad Cindy Lu got it out of her system now, because sixth grade? Holy hell. Who thinks to watch for stuff like that when they’re so old and should really know better?
yet one more reason I’m no longer a teacher and want to homeschool my kids.
March 7th, 2008 at 10:28 am
Sugarplumsmom says:
YIPES! Glad she’s ok.. I have managed to buzz myself a couple times plugging in the hair dryer but not for awhile.
Sugarplumsmom’s last blog post..School Already?
March 7th, 2008 at 11:26 am
Nancy says:
Yikes! Glad she is OK.
Nancy’s last blog post..My heart hurts
March 7th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
Shannon says:
OMG. That is scary! Is anyone monitoring YOUR heartrate until it goes back to normal (like, some time next YEAR)????
Shannon’s last blog post..dear march
March 7th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
misty says:
oye. I did this, as a kid, with a hair pin. STILL have the scars on my thumb and index finger…
misty’s last blog post..7, parties & give-aways- Oh my…
March 7th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
shuey6 says:
when my (now) 11 year old was a toddler, he took two suitcase keys and realized they were the PERFECT size to fit into the outlet, together! I said WHAT WERE YOU THINKING and he said he was trying to drive the wall.
She’ll be OK…
March 7th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
nan says:
Eeep! Cold chills! We have a knife with a melted end, and our little electrician was fine; but when my husband was a kid they were running races in the neighbourhood and his buddy touched a wire that was live. It killed him while the other little guys stood watching. Luckily, none of them thought to “rescue” their friend at the time, or it could have been more tragic.
nan’s last blog post..it’s not all bad, Trini!
March 7th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
Jennifer says:
Gah! Damn kids. Always having to watch them.
Glad she’s okay.
Jennifer’s last blog post..Behold It’s Beauty
March 7th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Queen of Shake Shake says:
OMG! How scary! I’m glad she’s ok.
Queen of Shake Shake’s last blog post..More Debating on Allowances
March 7th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Maria says:
Oh my good God. Kids are going to be the death of US. Imagine? Another thing for me to worry about.
Maria’s last blog post..Friday Fun – Sick
March 7th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
janet says:
how totally scary… i’m glad she’s ok.
but really, karly, that will teach you to pull bandaids off that kid. who knew she’d take such a drastic step?
janet’s last blog post..Haiku Friday: the college behavior at 13 edition
March 7th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Leslie says:
How freaking scary! I’m glad she’s okay. Geez! When I was telling Dave about this, I spelled out k-e-y-s and o-u-t-l-e-t because I don’t want my little genius to get any ideas. It’s bad enough she’s running around with a shiner from her brilliant attempt to jump off her new big girl bed into her chair.
Kids. Ugh!
Leslie’s last blog post..On Why Our Marriage Works
March 7th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
Jerseygirl89 says:
Oh gosh, I’m so glad that she is okay and that you didn’t have a heart attack! My dad did the same thing with a fork when he was a child and now it’s his favorite story about his childhood (granted, his childhood may have been lacking in some areas).
Jerseygirl89’s last blog post..Haiku Friday – The Park!!!!!!!!!!
March 7th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
Chris H says:
Very pleased to hear your wee girl survived her experiment…. we caught two of our sons shoving a metal coat hanger in an electrical outlet years ago… they did not get a shock… so we took them out to a friends farm and made them grab an electric fence… to show them just how much electricity CAN HURT YOU!!! Lesson learnt.
Chris H’s last blog post..BLOODY FISH IS DRIVING ME NUTS
March 7th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
Redneck Mommy says:
When I was three I stuck the slim end of a spoon into the electrical socket.
My mom still remembers seeing rolling fireballs across the kitchen floor and me surrounded by shooting sparks.
All I remember is ‘damn, that was pretty cool!’
Glad your kiddo is okay.
Redneck Mommy’s last blog post..Nightmare on Redneck Road
March 7th, 2008 at 8:13 pm
baseballmom says:
OMG, Alex did that with a coathanger, and I was in the next room. I saw him sitting there, kinda vibrating and he couldn’t let go, so I sort of nudged him away from the hanger with my foot. The wall was all black, but he wasn’t burnt, just scared as heck. Me too! Glad your baby’s okay.
baseballmom’s last blog post..Clam Hunt
March 7th, 2008 at 9:41 pm
Pam says:
Oh charred baby, never a good way to start a weekend! Between the trust issues with you and offing herself, I’m starting to worry about the Lu girl. Isn’t parenting f’ing fun??????
Pam’s last blog post..Split Personality
March 8th, 2008 at 9:01 am
Suzi says:
Holy crap! Don’t you just wonder what she was thinking? I guess it was, “I meed to get Mama’s keys and stick them into one of those teeny wall slits.”
I bet kids who do that only do it once, so you should be done.
March 8th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Karly says:
Kelli, Sixth grade? Man. Now I’ve gotta start worrying about Eeyore doing it as well!
March 8th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
Karly says:
Nan, OMG. Live wires laying around are my biggest fear for just that reason. How horrible for your husband and his friends to see something like that. Electricity scares me.
March 8th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
Karly says:
Janet, HAHAHAHA. Damn me and my band-aid pulling ways. I’m lucky she didn’t try tossing the hair dryer in to the tub while I was bathing. At least she is trying to kill herself and not ME, right?
March 8th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
Karly says:
Leslie, New big girl bed? And no post with tears and whining about her growing up too fast? I was sure to post my big girl bed sob story. Then again, Julia is nearly 4, right? So I’m guessing this isn’t her first big girl bed?
March 8th, 2008 at 6:18 pm
Karly says:
Chris, For some reason this made me think of the comment on my last post about the dad who made his kids jump down the stairs and then purposefully didn’t catch them. You scare me. (I say that with love.)
March 8th, 2008 at 6:19 pm
Sarah, Goon Squad Sarah says:
When I was four I put thumbtacks in the sockets to the cord of the heating tray. It was plugged in.
I was just curious. My mom is still traumatized.
Sarah, Goon Squad Sarah’s last blog post..Brad Pitt + Hairy Crotch = Search Term of the Week
March 9th, 2008 at 9:50 am
MammaLoves says:
Oh you must have freaked out!!!
BTW, I’m sorry I haven’t been by. I’ve been wondering why I hadn’t seen any posts from you and then I realized that I hadn’t updated my reader with your new address. Man it would be helpful if they made readers smart enough to pick that information up.
Anyway, I’ll be back to stalking you now.
MammaLoves’s last blog post..The Post I Might Delete Later
March 9th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
A Mom Anonymous says:
Oh my! Well, I’m glad Little Miss Sparky is fine! SCARY mommy moment. When I was pg with DS, moving into our house and FG saw me putting outlet covers on he laughed at me. He told me he used to “start up the kitchen island” all the time as a kid. Hmmm, I wonder if that’s what the heck is wrong with him.
These kids keep us on our toes don’t they?!
((bighug)) Karly! So much for a nap!
A Mom Anonymous’s last blog post..Surprise Surprise!!!
March 10th, 2008 at 10:54 am