It was like a one-sided bout against a prized fighter. But instead of getting my butt kicked by an actual person, my licks were inflicted courtesy of the stairs.

Last week around bedtime, I ventured downstairs to grab some water before going to sleep. Only, my leisurely “venture” turned into a rocky and painful ride as I slipped on one of Sloan’s toys and fell down the stairs. Out of 12 steps, I tripped on the 10th (from the top), resulting in a good amount of tumbling.

Our steps that separate our main floor from upstairs aren’t exactly forgiving. They are steep-ish and by no means soft. They were built to serve a purpose, not to cushion falls.

A look at the stairs I fell down in our house.

When I slipped on the toy, it sent me airborne for a short moment. I then landed on a top stair via my backside and crashed down the rest of them to the bottom. Although my clumsy descent down the stairs lasted a couple seconds at most, it seemed much longer to me. I was cognizant of each step my body bounced off, registering every single blow from the respective steps.

It wasn’t a silent affair. In addition to the sound of an adult male body falling down a flight of stairs, I managed to yell once I reached the bottom. As I sat there and let the pain register for a moment, I looked up the stairs to see Sid and Sloan looking down at me.

Sid was very concerned and made sure I was okay. She then turned to Sloan and scolded her for leaving the toy out and commanded her to apologize to me. Sloan’s initial response?

“It was daddy’s fault for not turning on the light.”

Yeah, that didn’t go over well with me.

But after Sloan gave an appropriate response/apology and my shock from the fall dissipated, I started to think about people—especially the elderly—who take tumbles down the stairs on flights much numerous and steeper than the one I tripped over. I am talking flights of stairs that aren’t even carpeted and might have some twists and turns incorporated. For someone like myself who is still equipped (at least for now 😉) to absorb a fall but definitely experienced some pain, I can only imagine how traumatic and agonizing it would be for someone a bit more vulnerable.

I was sore the next day but I moved on past my clumsy ride down the stairs. Rest assured, I won’t be challenging our staircase to any future bouts. Have you ever fallen down the stairs before? Don’t Blink.