As engineers, Joe and I are on the endless quest for efficiency (and sometimes safety). Because Joe is the trained professional, and I am not very professional, I come up with ideas that are efficient but not always cost effective or safe.
I fell down the stairs three times in Daniel's first six months of life - twice with him in my arms, and I have decided to avoid carrying bundles down the stairs when possible. This includes the laundry. Initially, I started pushing the basket down the stairs. This was great until the final three stairs where a good bounce would build up and the basket would tip and fly into the wall.
This led me to cleaner method of dropping it off the banister from the second floor to the first floor on the rug. When dropped flat on its bottom, the basket remained intact and most the clothes stayed in the basket. Three weeks ago, Joe thought this method was a great idea, but dropped it on its side, causing a hairline fracture.
This morning the idea got even worse. I dropped the basked over the banister while Daniel was watching. I don't care how old or young a boy is, things that go BOOM SPLAT! are fascinating and delightful. Daniel like lightening found his pack of diapers to launch over the banister. He was too short and the bars were too tight, so his efforts were quashed.
When we went down to assess the results, the hairline fracture had become a full-blown system failure. There is no telling what new things will be found on the floor below the banister in the weeks to come. Maybe Daniel will forget the fun we had? Doubtful.
Retraction: Joe never thought it was a good idea. He was just being lazy. My apologies, Joe.
We also throw our clothes over the banister in an effort to make it down the stairs in one piece. In like fashion Isaac threw my purse over the banister which of course had my Palm Treo in it and destroyed my screen. This of course was a great reason to finally get an iPhone but you get the point that this can indeed be a costly lesson to learn. :-)
ReplyDelete"hairline fracture had become a full-blown system failure"--that is helarious!!!
ReplyDeleteI don't carry large bundles down the stairs either. I usually walk backward down the stairs pulling the laundry basket down a few steps at a time. This way I can practically crawl backward down the stairs and slowly assist the basket. It's not perfect and is a little time consuming but it gets the job done with minimal injuries.
ReplyDeleteHave you thought of having 2 baskets. One downstairs for catching the launched clothes from the upstairs basket. Otherwise is there enough room in that unknown area next to the stove (right side)to create a laundry chute?
ReplyDeleteman I am glad we don't have stairs :-)
ReplyDeleteThat photo of Daniel and the busted basket is just so darn cute!
ReplyDelete