Eric was gone on Friday night so I did bathtime by myself. Sam was in his room, picking out a toy, and I turned on the water in the tub. I walked the six feet to Matilda's room to get her pajamas and then I heard her scream.
In exactly two seconds, Matilda had walked in to the bathroom, shut the door, and then opened the drawer that is right next to the door. I was able to get the door open less than an inch before hitting the drawer. I felt so dumb and had no idea how I was going to get the door open.
I tried asking Matilda to close the drawer. She just screamed at me. I tried reaching through the crack in the door to shut the drawer myself but I couldn't get my fingers through the crack. I honestly thought I was going to have to call the fire department. I wondered to myself how quickly they'd be able to get here and if the tub would have overflowed by then. Then I realized - Oh God - Matilda could heave herself into the tub at any moment. I had no way of getting in there to save her!
I pushed against the door as hard as I could. I was able to just get my fingers through the crack. Only the tips of my middle fingers reached the drawer. Unable to bend my fingers I tried pushing the drawer in by nudging it along its side. I had to lean on the door so hard to get my fingers through, the door was pressed against the drawer and holding it firmly in place.
I ran to the kitchen and got a spatula and a knife. I tried pushing the drawer with the spatula but it didn't have anything to grip. I tried jamming the knife into the side of the drawer in order to push it, but I couldn't do it at that bizarre angle. I listened to the water pouring into the tub and thought about tiny women who are able to lift cars when it means saving their children. I decided the least I could do was shut a drawer. (As God is my witness, if we owned a sledgehammer I would have smashed that door down.)
I again managed to wedge my fingers through the crack in the door. I was able barely move them, side to side, along the side of the drawer. Every 10th swipe managed to slide the drawer 1/100th of an inch. It seemed like it took forever but I finally got the drawer shut. I swung the door open and picked up Matilda, who was still screaming and crying. The water in the tub had just reached the very top. It would have been overflowing within seconds.
I never expected that keeping my kids alive would be this hard!
5 comments:
But you did it. Cause you are the mama and you weren't going to stop until you got in there.
Oh my gosh this made my heart stop for a second. I can't imagine how scary that must have been. Thank God everything worked out.
Horrible, horrible, horrible. I think Eric should nail or screw that drawer shut (from underneath) so this doesn't happen again.
Thank goodness you were successful! I think I would have been just standing there crying.
Holy crap, my heart was beating out of my chest from just reading that! I agree, you would have done what you needed to do. I'm so glad everyone is okay!!
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