Chapter 12 - Noah's Recovery
His clavicle healed without surgery.
The pediatric orthopedic specialist monitored him.
The concussion symptoms remained mild.
For several days he became more irritable.
Sleep disrupted.
He disliked stairs.
At fifteen months, developmental behavior changes for dozens of reasons, so clinicians were cautious about attributing every cry to trauma.
That caution helped.
We did not turn Noah into a diagnosis.
He was still himself.
He threw peas.
Demanded the same board book seven times.
Called every wheeled object:
“car.”
He also clung to me more.
Especially near the foyer.
We installed safety gates immediately.
Not because Margaret might return.
Because toddlers and stairs are a terrible combination even without adults committing crimes.
That ordinary safety change embarrassed me.
Claire had asked for a better gate months earlier.
I kept saying:
“I'm ordering one.”
Then work.
Then grief.
Then later.
Parenthood contains painful inventories of what you should have done sooner.
The trick is not to turn guilt into paralysis.
Install the gate.
May you like
Learn.
Move.
