Re. May 5 Canadian Press story headlined Calgary girl tumbles from window:
As usual, I sat down recently for dinner with my lovely wife and my trusty copy of the Red Deer Advocate.
I flipped the front page and saw the story mentioned above.
I begin reading: “Two-year-old girl . . .” Oh my.
Then I got to neighbour Marylynn Arbic’s opinion about the parents, printed in the paper, “though she doesn’t know the child or the family.”
I understand that it would be horrific to hear the painful yell of a two-year-old after such an accident. Not as painful, however, as the turmoil this young girl’s parents must be going through.
I am the father of a one-year-old little girl and we have another on the way.
Just the other day, I turned to see my little princess playing with a box cutter she pulled out of my toolbox as I was installing her new baby gate.
Nothing happened (thank God). But it could have. And I’m sure, just as in this instance, some would’ve been outraged and passed judgment on me as I blamed myself as well (we see this too often).
We don’t always follow our one year old around the house, as many parents of toddlers are familiar with this term, “baby proofing,” has been done to the best of our ability.
I look up from the newspaper at my open living room window with no device to stop my kid from pushing out the screen, and ask myself, does this mean I am an irresponsible parent?
And until what age should I keep on following my child around the house?
And as for the comments from Stuart Brideaux, spokesman for Alberta Health Services, I appreciate his remarks, but we all know these safety tips are easy to come up with after the fact.
All accidents are preventable, right?
Marc Morrissette
Sylvan Lake