The day I almost suffocated my daughter

I remember back a couple of years ago as I was ascending a mountain.

My daughter, then about two or so years old, sat in a carrier on my back. It was a great way to make her fall asleep during the day while also exercising myself. Everyone who’s had kids know that they need their sleep throughout the day and if you’re putting them in carriers, they’re quite likely to slowly drift away into The Land of Dreams.

Anyway, so the hike upwards towards the summit of the mountain went fine.

After initially crying and venting a little, the little one eventually fell asleep.

And if you’ve ever had a kid with you in a carrier you know that unless you tighten their belts really good, they’re prone to actually falling out. I actually remember this one time where I completely forgot to adjust the straps and the belts and the kid was actually hanging out with her head dangling on one of the sides. Was just a miracle that she didn’t hit her head on a tree or a rock or something.

Now, as we approached the summit things looked good. She woke up, had a little to drink and eat and we enjoyed the time up there.

The way back down was a different chapter, though. Not only was it extremely hot that day, there was also no wind. Now, I’d taken all the precautionary measures and rubbed probably half a bottle of sunblock on the kid so she wouldn’t suffer from the blistering heat. Myself included. After some struggle, I also managed to get her to wear sunglasses because of the brightness.

The idea was of course that she would sleep on the way down from the mountain as well.

But things didn’t exactly play out that way.

Instead, she ended up crying and venting over probably the heat and the fact that she had to wear sunglasses and a lot of other stuff. Of course there was nothing I could to other than walking faster so we’d get home faster. But try telling that to a little kid who’s frantically trying to break out from the carrier.

In fact, it got so bad and so intense back there that one point the kid managed a little jump.

And because she’d managed to loosen the straps a little, that jump created a bounce-like motion in the carrier.

It threw me off balance and we both fell.

Or that is, because of the bounce motion I was pulled backwards. At that particular spot, the terrain was very slippery, so I actually slid. And I landed on my back, or on the carrier. With my kiddo still in it.

Fortunately, things went fine.

I think it was because it happened so fast that she barely noticed what had happened.

Quite a scary incident, indeed. I actually could have suffocated the poor kid to death if I landed with the right angle on her.

And that personal horror story got me thinking about those who live with fibromyalgia and accidentally drop or let go of things. Not because they’re lazy or something like that. But because their joints, tendons or ligaments cannot handle the load.

Needless to say, people who suffer from such joint pains need to be mindful about carrying heavy stuff. Especially if they’re in the presence of someone that’s easily vulnerable. You can probably work out how things would play out if old grandma who suffers from joint pain in her wrists would handle it carrying a heavy pack of nails. What if she accidentally dropped that pack on her toes?

Or even worse, carrying a cauldron that’s filled with boiling water over the head of a child and you…..

….need I say more?

I’ll just end with the fact that CBD oil has done wonders for a lot of people who suffer from unexplainable muscle pain and other chronic pain conditions.

Do with that as you please. But if you have a problem with pains that for some reason won’t go away, then don’t say I didn’t tell you what to do.

So, forward you go.