My 4 year old kid fell in the ditch last week. I should be a sympathetic mom, but everything about this scenario just makes me want to laugh, starting with the angry sobbing rant he delivered upon being retrieved from the ditch by his dad. Something like, “Now l’m soaking wet, even my snowpants, even my pants, now I have to change all my clothes, I’m really really mad at her, she’s a mean girl, I didn’t want to get all wet, I don’t like it, I don’t like it, I don’t like it. She should NOT have told me to go in the ditch, that was NOT NICE!”
Then there was the sobbing and eloquent explanations offered by his six year old sister, the likely suspect. Nothing like a child defense lawyer in action to prompt mom into more restrained laughter. The transcript:
Mom: Did you push him in the ditch?
Child: It’s not my fault, I didn’t want him to fall in.
Mom: Did you push him?
Child: He was already in the ditch. I didn’t want him to fall, I just wanted him to keep going.
Mom: So you wanted him to go in the ditch?
Child: Well he already did, all by himself.
Mom: Did.You. Push.Him?
Child: Yes, but his feet were already in the ditch. I didn’t WANT him to fall down.
Mom: Why did he go in the ditch in the first place? Did you tell him to?
Child: Yes. But I didn’t think he would DO it.
The laughter continues the next day as the boy indignantly tells the story of how he fell in the ditch and it was his big sister’s fault to everyone he meets, including cashiers at the grocery store. Details include how the water was cold and his wet snowpants were sooo heavy, that he didn't want to fall in, and that his sister is a MEAN GIRL.
Two days later, we prompt him to tell Grandma and Grandpa the story:
“Tell Grandma about how you fell in the ditch.”
The boy looks curious and intrigued, “When did I fall in the ditch?”
“Just this week. Tell grandma about it.”
“I fell in the ditch?” he asks incredulously.
“Yes! Don’t you remember?”
“Was I in a canoe?” he asks.
I’m laughing hysterically now, as I say, “No! You were playing in the snow, remember?”
Clearly he's blocked the traumatic experience from his mind, because the next question he asks is, “Did I ever get out?”
Yeah, my kid fell in a ditch full of ice water and I laughed. One of the perks of being a mom.
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