Girl VS Treadmill

Since the beginning of 2008, I have been religiously using the treadmill in my living room.

It takes some planning, on a daily basis, to keep the Boy and the Girl occupied as I do this but we have worked out a good system. I put their morning cartoons on, get them drinks and snacks, turn on the bathroom light (because the Girl won't go in there in the dark which means getting off the treadmill to turn on the light if she needs to go while I'm walking), make sure I turn the TV up loud enough for them to hear it over the mechanical roar of the treadmill and make sure I have the remote in case I underestimated the loudness, have the phone handy, etc., etc., etc.

You get the picture.

So, on Saturday, I have everything set up PLUS the Man is home so he can tend to the needs of the kids for the 45 minutes I am otherwise occupied.

Often, the kids stand at the end of the couch, which is right at the end of the treadmill and chat with me while I huff and puff. Often our conversations are like this, "Mom, why is your face red?", "Mom, how much longer?", "Mom, are you crying?" (No honey, it's sweat, not tears.), "What's sweat?", "Mom, why are you breathing like that?"

You get the picture.

Well, on Saturday, the Girl, in addition to needing me to converse with her, also needed me to have a drink of tea from her tea set. Ok. I can do that.

She hands me the cup. I drink. She takes the cup, loses her balance and falls off the couch, through the front of the treadmill, right under my feet, while I am walking.

Well, panic ensues. The Man comes running, yelling, "Shut it off! Shut it off!" We're both scrambling to pick her up while she bounces along on her face on the rough, moving surface of the treadmill. It happened so fast, but seemed to be slow-motion at the same time.

You get the picture?

No?

Well, here they are.

She got road rash on her nose, cheek, lip and forehead.



The pictures don't show how red it actually was.

But, as is usually the case, the Girl bounced back really quickly. She was ready to pose a few minutes later.

"Show me how tough you are, Baby."

"Arrrr. Me tuff!"


Now, I didn't get away unscathed. I got road rash on my knee pretty good but not good enough to keep me from finishing my 45 minutes!

Here's my knee.

You would think this experience would keep her far, far away from the moving treadmill, right? Wrong. A few minutes later she was at my side asking if she could come on the treadmill with me.

Never a dull moment, eh?