I got tumpin' to say

A few months ago, my husband stepped out of a room for ten seconds, leaving the youngest sitting happily on a ladderback chair, playing on Sesame Street's website. Those of you who are parents and read the words "stepped out of a room" will know roughly where this post is going.

As we figure it, in that short time, the youngest stood up on the ladderback chair and bounced his backside against the rungs on the back, something he was at the time often doing, and being admonished for, in the dining room.

Since the Laws of Physics apply to him, and Murphy's Law dictates that the Laws of Physics most apply when the parent has left the room, the chair tipped back, the legs sliding out from underneath on the hardwood floor, and he ended up smacking the base of the back of his head on the uppermost rung as the chair landed.

When I relayed the incident to my father, he said wee lad had "tumped the chair over".

tump
verb (Chiefly Southern U.S.)
1. To overturn. Often used with over: You're about to tump that thing over.
2. To fall over. Often used with over: Is that wheelbarrow going to tump over?
"tump." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. Answers.com 28 Oct. 2005. http://www.answers.com/topic/tump

I am happy to report he now believes us that it is not safe to stand up on chairs.