The What If...

I would like to preface this post by saying (or writing) that I am what many consider a "helicopter parent". I'm that Mommy at the park that gets on the play structures with my daughter, helps her down the slide, etc.

We have a pool. It is gated. Marlee is not on the patio without Dave or myself. Ever. The gate is not fool proof. We also have a latch at the top of our back door leading outside. Just in case.

Sometimes when she naps, I have crazy fears about her climbing out of her crib (which is now impossible since we put the crib mattress on the ground and basically placed the crib around it) opening her door, getting to the back door, getting all three locks unlocked, getting outside, getting through the locked gate, and drowning in the pool. Kristy, you know my crazy fears!

Our pool scares me.

Today we went to my parents house for Easter Dinner. They, too, have a pool. It is not gated. Dave and I are a pretty good team in keeping an eye on her. If she goes missing, one of us is on her pretty quickly. She is fast. So fast.
She was in the living room and the next thing we know she is gone. Dave asks, where's Marlee? We both immediately start looking for her. Dave to the front door and me to the back. As I approached the closed and locked back door, I could see nothing but a child's hand as I looked out through the blinds. Yes, it was Marlee. I screamed Dave's name and went running outside. Marlee was out there on the patio, happy as could be, playing with Hunter, my parent's dog. Once she saw and heard me she went running towards the pool, thinking we were playing some sort of game. I caught her less than one foot from the pool.

I was so choked up I could barely talk. There was a moment that my heart completely stopped. Everything around me stopped. A horrible moment.

Marlee is fine.

Come to find out Marlee had went to the back of the house (which she had done quite a few times to sneak into the toy closet), went out the door to the garage, went out the outside door, and went around to the pool (I think).

As I said, she's fast.

I believe if it wasn't for her interest in Hunter, the pool would have been her interest. Marlee had been watching and talking to Hunter through the glass of the backdoor earlier. Also, she had to walk by the pool to get to where she was on the patio with Hunter.

Tonight, Daddy got Marlee her bottle. About halfway through she got up off the couch, went into our room, laid on our bed, and finished her bottle. Dave and I lied on either side of her, and just snuggled our baby.

I kept thinking, what if.
What if.
What if.
Awful feeling.

If it's possible, Dave is even more crazier than me when it comes to our pool.
If he has his way, Marlee will be swimming before summer's over.

Sorry for the dreary post.
Stay tuned. Tomorrow will be a much happier, Easter post.