Overconfidence

  Oh, cruel gravity. I wrote about how Princess is such a good baby-holder. Yesterday, the baby-holder dropped the baby.
  From what I gather, she had him propped in her arms in front of her, his bottom on the arm rest of the big chair in the living room. He wiggled suddenly and rolled off her arms, belly-flopping onto the hard floor. He got a small bruise on his forehead and cried and cried.
  Princess, meanwhile, was ashen-faced and shaking. I wasn't in the room at the time, and by the time I made it downstairs, she had picked him up and was trying to soothe his crying. Gameboy was standing like a deer in headlights. I asked him later why he hadn't called for me, and he said he panicked. I thought to myself about all the asinine things they've asked for help with, but I didn't say anything about how this was a time I'd want to be summoned.
  I took the baby and was reassured that he was crying. I moved his arms and legs and checked that his eyes were tracking normally. Besides that, you just dust him off, right?
  I asked the kids what happened and how high he was when he fell. They answered honestly, but slowly from being in such shock. I told Princess to take a break in her room. I came up after a few minutes to assure her the baby was OK. I asked her if she was scared, and she started to sob.
  So of course, I don't need to punish anyone or yell at anyone because you couldn't make them feel worse. On the other hand, I don't want to tell them it's no big deal or "that's OK." Before bed last night, I reminded Princess that however it was that she was holding him, that wasn't safe. She needs to be more careful and pay better attention to what the baby is doing. He's getting bigger and stronger, and he'll jerk his body around without warning. He'll probably clock you in the nose once or twice. And I told them both that they need to answer faster if I'm trying to decide whether everyone is OK or if we need to go to the hospital.
  I've done a good job so far staying calm when the kids get hurt. None of them, thank God, has been hurt badly, though, so there's probably a point at which I'd freak out. Gameboy had blood running out his nose once that just about got to me, but he was 2 and needed my help. I've got to step up, right?