More Than Just for Paper

Ohh.....the wonders of childhood!!!
Swinging on a tire swing from and old tree....
Hunting for frogs along a creek bed.....
Playing hide and seek with your friends....
Tossing a stick to your dog....
Jumping on the bed....
Spinning in your dad's new office chair.....

Hmmmm....which one of these might cause you to visit the Urgent Care?

Bleary eyed, I was awakened by my dear Iz with his sad voice saying...."I hit my head on the desk." He didn't cry much and moments later he was gone. But within ten minutes, he was back saying "There's blood!!!"

Now, you must know that the sight of a tiny speck of blood in my family causes a reaction beyond belief. Iz is especially prone to this overreaction. It is usually due to the fact that he has picked at a scab or eczema and NOW THERE'S BLOOD!!! I am almost always in the "buck it up" club and tell him that if he hadn't been picking, there wouldn't be blood so next time, don't pick. I learned long ago that the best response to a not so iunjured but fussing child is the kind that checks him over quickly and says, "You'll be fine, dear." So...when my child presented in the doorway with the cry of "Blood!!!" I knew better than to overreact.

Ski got to him first and took a look. When he said "Oh my..." I knew I was in trouble.

Everyone fetched the necessary equipment for an injury and brought them forth -- a nice big towel, the trusty brown bottle of peroxide, and my bowl of cottonballs. While there was not nearly as much blood as I know a head injury can produce, there was a bit. And as I looked, I doubted that this problem could be solved with the materials I had on hand. I cleaned as best as I could and the flow of blood seemed to be slowing. So....after dressing myself, I proceeded to call my ped. Unfortunately, they only remove stitches and don't put them in. At least that saved me an hour trip to the other side of town. So, off we went to UC -- or as Iz calls them, his "arm doctor."

Wouldn't you know, we had the same dr as we had the last time. It makes you feel like a very bad mother when you see the same dr for an injury to the same child in only a matter of months.

In the end, he got 6 staples in his head because his older brother and sister thought it would be great fun to spin him in Daddy's office chair. And hopefully, the spinning in chairs will not be happening again. He has a deep scalp laceration. Oh, and my kid is a super trooper. He said "Ow" once while the staples were going in and smiled the rest of the time. He got treated to fries, cranberry juice, and some soy icecream. And mom and dad get to wake him at 12 and 4am for two days. And Iz gets the honor of being the first in all 8 of us to have had staples.