Boys will be dare devils. Boys will be super heroes. Boys will be army men. Boys will be boys. Of course sometimes these imaginative adventures come at a price.
On Thursday night I decided to head outside and enjoy some left overs in my favorite Adirondack chair while the kids ran around and got some fresh air. This summer has been so extraordinarily hot that we have to wait until dusk before it’s even bearable. It was 8:15 pm when I watched Z fall out of a tree and gash his shin open on the little branch that came down with him. He was only about 4 feet up and it wasn’t a bad fall, but it all happened in such a way that the wound was extremely deep and we had to take him to the ER where they administered 5 stitches.
It was not easy to comfort him as they held him down and stuck a needle through his numbed skin. He looked at me with buckets of tears dumping out of his eyes screaming “Make them stop. Owww! Mommy hold me!” I tried to keep it together, but it was too much for me to watch and I had a few tears sneak out as I told him how it was all going to be okay and that we would go get some ice cream when it was all done. Ice cream makes everything better, or maybe that’s just me.
I can only hope that these hospital visits are coincidental and not a foreshadowing of our future. Z has had surgery, a broken collar bone, a ripped off toenail, and now 5 stitches all before his 4th birthday! I have never experienced any of these things and I am almost 30. He always bounces back quickly, but at the rate we are going we would be able to send him to the college of his choice with the amount that we are spending on medical bills.
Any advice from mothers of boys or girls with a history of injury? I think I am going to need your wise council, that or I just need to hire a full time doctor.
I have one of those daredevil daughters. She's had stitches on her hand from tripping over a tree root in the woods and ripping her finger open on a rock… no stitches, but her lip was "glued" closed after slipping on the ice and biting through it… several twisted ankles, a concussion, and a dislocated knee that required a leg brace and weeks of physical therapy. Not including the many Xrays and MRIs of injuries that revealed no major damage. We're well acquainted with the workings of our local ER. Although some kids never break a hair on their heads, some break many other things! One doctor told me "A child is an accident just waiting for an opportunity to happen". It's a sign that you have a normal, healthy, active, child.
My oldest has had his share at an early age. At age 16months he fell off the top bunk of bunk beds. I was right next to him but it happened so fast I didn't catch him. A scan of his head showed no concussion. At 3 he bit through his tongue. Once again a rush to the ER. Tongues bleed a lot and heal quickly, no stitches required. There was nothing wrong but still very scary and expensive.
We haven't had too many instances. The worst thing was when Cody's toenail got ripped off when he was four. That was awful, as I'm sure you know! I'm so sorry that little Z had to go through that. I hope you're able to glean some wisdom from these other ladies!