It was only a matter of time.
We have been parenting for nearly eight and a half years and not a stitch to be had on any of our kids.
That is - until yesterday when Youngest Girl achieved the distinction of becoming the first to injure herself to the point of needing a quick trip to the doctor's for stitches. Five, to be exact.
(She just had to be first at something, I guess...)
She had been outside with Rick, her two older sisters, her cousin and her uncle and they were playing a variety of games requiring a ball. At one point the girls decided to start throwing the ball onto the play structure platform. However, there were a lot of rocks (collected by Eldest Girl/resident rock collector) sitting in precarious positions along the edges of the platform. Rick suggested that all the rocks be moved into a nearby wagon and the girl complied. Youngest Girl was interested by the assortment of rocks and apparently found a piece of slate in the wagon and then decided to climb back up to the platform by way of the rope ladder. Climbing one-handed while hanging onto the largish piece of slate did not go well and she slipped and fell, catching her chin on the sharp edge of the rock. Rick carried her in screaming and I saw the amount of blood and immediately ran for a wet towel. She calmed down rather quickly and we were able to assess the damage which looked very much in need of a few stitches to my completely untrained (and uninitiated-in-the-ways-of-huge-gashes-to-my-baby's-face!) eye.
We were fortunate to have an uncle and two grandparents in close proximity at the moment so Rick and I left the older two in their capable hands and rushed off to the doctor's office . I had called seeking advice (having never dealt with huge gashes in my baby's face in 8 years of parenting as I may have already mentioned...) and they told us to bring her right in. I was thankful that we were not going to have to go to the ER and sit and wait interminably for help.
Rick sat in the back of the car and held some gauze to her chin while I drove. I was feeling pretty high strung and concerned about what was to come - as was Rick. Youngest Girl was either completely exhausted from lack of nap or so shocked and traumatized by the experience that she promptly fell asleep. Perhaps it was a combination of the two. She slept for about 15 of the 20 minutes it took to get to the office. Once there she woke up but was rather groggy - which may have helped with what came next.
The nurse checked us in and shortly thereafter the doctor arrived to assess the wound. One of the nurses in the office suggested that they might be able to use a kind of wound super glue to repair the gash but we were soon to learn that due to the angle and location of the wound stitches were going to be necessary. Youngest girl sat very still and quiet while the doc prodded and probed around the site of the wound (which was too much for me to watch and I was thankful that Rick was the one holding her). Once the proclamation of stitches was made the doctor and nurse got to work prepping the room and Youngest girl was laid on the table and restrained by a straitjacket-like device that was slyly referred to as a "papoose." I thought for sure she would kick up a fuss at being removed from Rick's lap and restrained but she remained amazingly calm. The nurse was stationed at her head to keep it steady while the doctor worked so I sat by her feet and held on to her legs to let her know I was close. Rick stayed near her head and she was able to see him.
She was so very brave during the whole process. Much braver than I felt. The hardest part was the novocain when her eyes welled up and she whimpered but she stayed very still and let the doctor do what needed to be done. It was very quiet in the room during the procedure and I was so tense that I realized I was not just holding her legs but actually griping them to the point that I was probably restricting blood flow. I would not make a very good nurse.
Once it was all done the doctor put a bandage over her FIVE stitches and gave her a special sticker just for kids who had gotten stitches! She was also allowed to pick five stickers - one for each stitch - from the general sticker bin which made her very happy. She walked out with two princesses, two SpongeBob, and a Big Bird and with big plans to share her loot with her sisters and cousin.
She was given extremely high marks from both nurses we encountered as well as the doctor. They all said she was by far the bravest kid they have ever encountered who needed stitches! In fact, the nurse who was not in the room during the procedure could not figure out what was taking so long because she figured she'd been hearing howls and screams coming from the room if there were stitches involved. She could not believe that Youngest Girl got five stitches and there was not a peep to be heard!
Way to go, Brave Youngest Girl! But, for mom's sake please avoid the need to be so brave in the future! No more stitches, please.
Showing posts with label Parenting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Parenting. Show all posts
Monday, August 11, 2008
Sunday, May 06, 2007
This 'n that...
Time for a bulleted update!
* R was giving us a fair bit of sass and drama lately and we were at our wit's end with her. So, from our parenting bag of tricks we pulled the "Chore Chart Incentive Program" and it has actually worked WONDERS. Amazing what a little bribery will do. The way it works is this: she has specific chores to do each day (actually we are using it for both R and A since they were both interested in getting some cold hard cash) for which she can earn stickers on her chart. Some of the stuff they do is already part of our routine such as clearing their dishes from the table and helping with the trash and recycling. They can also earn extra stickers for helping with chores that are not generally part of their routine - like helping me vacuum or weeding in the garden - or for having particularly good behavior during the day. Each sticker earned gets them a nickel at the end of the week. This week R has done a complete 180 and has willingly done various chores and has behaved so well. I keep checking the cabinets and under beds to see if I can find the pods... This week R earned herself $2.05 and A earned $1.75. The way I figure, it's a bargain for regaining some level of peace and sanity in the house!
* I was recently invited by R's school to sit on a search committee for a new second grade teacher. I immediately agreed to do it and then second-guessed myself and wondered what the hell I was getting myself into. I have not had to do something like that in a very long time and I was extremely nervous. In the end, it all went well and I found it a valuable experience, even if I was completely brain dead after a 7-interview day that went from 8:00am to 4:00pm! Perhaps some day I will share more on that experience but for now the search committee is still "in process" with no formal decision on hires so "mums the word"...just in case someone were to stumble across this blog. Unlikely, yes...but even so...
* I'm getting back in the groove with my morning walks - the mornings have been brisk/cold but otherwise beautiful - so that's good. My basement workouts have fallen by the wayside over the last week or so because of a cold (or possible allergy...??) that has had me sniffling for a couple of weeks and now with a lovely, phlegmy cough to add to the misery. I can't seem to bring myself to doing the heavy-duty sweat-fest videos when I'm feeling this way so I'm glad I'm at least able to get in the walks most mornings. I'm now down 22 pounds and holding steady for the time being. I've been pretty good about food intake of late. Not perfect -- I could probably see faster progress if I were more strict. But, I'll take what I can get and enjoy the rest. Slow but steady wins the race, right?
* Rick has been working hard on our garden for the past couple of months and we have a nice little crop growing already. He decided to start a bunch of stuff from seed this year and set up some lights in the basement so he could get them started nice and early. He even set up programmable lights that would turn on and off at the appropriate times. Yeah, he's a geek...and I love him dearly. (It makes me want to go and order one of these.) So far, we have the following growing in our raised-bed garden (with cold frame to keep in the heat at night because we still have lows near freezing some nights): broccoli, lettuce, turnips, spinach, bush beans, and green onions. Everything planted in there, with the exception of the carrots, really took off and is growing great! Rick also started cucumber and yellow squash from seed and has those growing in separate pots that can be moved indoors if we suspect and overnight frost. Those have yet to start sprouting. And lastly, he started basil, Anaheim peppers, tomatoes, and a couple of different flowers from seed and those just recently came out from under the grow lights and he is starting to put them outside during the daytime to harden them off a bit before planting them in the ground. We are going to have a kick-ass garden this year -- all thanks to the green thumb of dear, wonderful Rick. 'Cuz left up to me we'd be doing our 'harvesting' at the local grocer every week...
I guess those are the major highlights for now.
* R was giving us a fair bit of sass and drama lately and we were at our wit's end with her. So, from our parenting bag of tricks we pulled the "Chore Chart Incentive Program" and it has actually worked WONDERS. Amazing what a little bribery will do. The way it works is this: she has specific chores to do each day (actually we are using it for both R and A since they were both interested in getting some cold hard cash) for which she can earn stickers on her chart. Some of the stuff they do is already part of our routine such as clearing their dishes from the table and helping with the trash and recycling. They can also earn extra stickers for helping with chores that are not generally part of their routine - like helping me vacuum or weeding in the garden - or for having particularly good behavior during the day. Each sticker earned gets them a nickel at the end of the week. This week R has done a complete 180 and has willingly done various chores and has behaved so well. I keep checking the cabinets and under beds to see if I can find the pods... This week R earned herself $2.05 and A earned $1.75. The way I figure, it's a bargain for regaining some level of peace and sanity in the house!
* I was recently invited by R's school to sit on a search committee for a new second grade teacher. I immediately agreed to do it and then second-guessed myself and wondered what the hell I was getting myself into. I have not had to do something like that in a very long time and I was extremely nervous. In the end, it all went well and I found it a valuable experience, even if I was completely brain dead after a 7-interview day that went from 8:00am to 4:00pm! Perhaps some day I will share more on that experience but for now the search committee is still "in process" with no formal decision on hires so "mums the word"...just in case someone were to stumble across this blog. Unlikely, yes...but even so...
* I'm getting back in the groove with my morning walks - the mornings have been brisk/cold but otherwise beautiful - so that's good. My basement workouts have fallen by the wayside over the last week or so because of a cold (or possible allergy...??) that has had me sniffling for a couple of weeks and now with a lovely, phlegmy cough to add to the misery. I can't seem to bring myself to doing the heavy-duty sweat-fest videos when I'm feeling this way so I'm glad I'm at least able to get in the walks most mornings. I'm now down 22 pounds and holding steady for the time being. I've been pretty good about food intake of late. Not perfect -- I could probably see faster progress if I were more strict. But, I'll take what I can get and enjoy the rest. Slow but steady wins the race, right?
* Rick has been working hard on our garden for the past couple of months and we have a nice little crop growing already. He decided to start a bunch of stuff from seed this year and set up some lights in the basement so he could get them started nice and early. He even set up programmable lights that would turn on and off at the appropriate times. Yeah, he's a geek...and I love him dearly. (It makes me want to go and order one of these.) So far, we have the following growing in our raised-bed garden (with cold frame to keep in the heat at night because we still have lows near freezing some nights): broccoli, lettuce, turnips, spinach, bush beans, and green onions. Everything planted in there, with the exception of the carrots, really took off and is growing great! Rick also started cucumber and yellow squash from seed and has those growing in separate pots that can be moved indoors if we suspect and overnight frost. Those have yet to start sprouting. And lastly, he started basil, Anaheim peppers, tomatoes, and a couple of different flowers from seed and those just recently came out from under the grow lights and he is starting to put them outside during the daytime to harden them off a bit before planting them in the ground. We are going to have a kick-ass garden this year -- all thanks to the green thumb of dear, wonderful Rick. 'Cuz left up to me we'd be doing our 'harvesting' at the local grocer every week...
I guess those are the major highlights for now.
Sunday, January 07, 2007
First date night of the new year!
We had a great night out. Relaxing, fun, delicious.
In the end we decided to see "The Good Shepard" since Rick seemed most interested in that one. I would go see just about anything (ok, so I once went to see a movie without knowing what the heck it was about and I'll never do that again - I ended up covering my eyes and ears for more than half the showing of "Seven"....ugh...I can't do those nasty horror flicks that are more gore and shock value than suspense and plot twists....ya know?). The movie was good - although a bit on the long side- and I, personally, got confused and could not easily keep up with the plot. It is not hard to confuse me, however, so that's not saying much. There were too many agents to keep track of and too much jumping between the 1960s and earlier times between the 1930s and the 1950s. If you like spy/espionage and are not easily confused I'd say go ahead and watch it - otherwise you might want to pass.
Before we headed to dinner I called to check in with the grands and make sure things were relatively peaceful at home. We had a rough departure with A having screaming fits and tantrums about doing some cleaning up so I just had to be sure things were going ok. As it turns out the girls had been having a great evening were acting like "model children" according to my MIL (phew! guess we provided enough incentives through blatant threats to ensure cooperative children for the evening). We headed off to our dinner with an easy conscience and plans to enjoy ourselves. We picked a place downtown that we rarely go to because it's a bit on the pricey side. But, we decided we were worth a little spoiling! Rick ordered a dish called Linguine fra Diavlo which was shrimp, sausage and chicken in a spicy red sauce over pasta. I ordered the Bistro Medallions which was beef wrapped in bacon and served with a mushroom demi-glaze. Sooooooo good. The caramel apple pie was also quite delicious and I'm sure none of this was on my self-proclaimed "diet plan" but it's not often that we get out for date night so I decided to enjoy it without guilt!
It was great to be out and about with Rick and enjoy having uninterrupted conversations. No need to cut up anyone else's food. No need to cook or wash dishes. Just him and me snuggling at the movies and eating a delicious dinner. No distractions, no time constraints, no stress. Ahhhhh....
One completely unrelated side note: there was a group seated next to us at the restaurant - looked like mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, and a toddler of perhaps 18 months - and the entire time they were seated at the restaurant they had the toddler perched in her highchair facing a portable dvd player that was sitting on the bench next to dad! And dad was feeding her some dinner to ensure that she actually ate something (I assume that if he did not feed her she would not have eaten much of anything because she was so transfixed on the video screen). I know we tend to be on the ultra-conservative side when it comes to TV viewing, but I thought that was a bit over the top. Does anyone else agree? I guess they figured it would keep her quiet and entertained so they could enjoy their dinner but I would tend to disagree with that tactic. I guess because I'm also not one to take small children to swank restaurants at what would have been past my 18-month-old child's bedtime (we got there at 7:30ish and they were there until at least 8:30). Feel free to weigh in on this topic. I'm curious whether I'm being too judgemental because of my own biases about TV or if others think sitting an 18-month-old in front of screen for a few hours of quiet at a restaurant is "ok" in their own personal book of parenting tricks.
In the end we decided to see "The Good Shepard" since Rick seemed most interested in that one. I would go see just about anything (ok, so I once went to see a movie without knowing what the heck it was about and I'll never do that again - I ended up covering my eyes and ears for more than half the showing of "Seven"....ugh...I can't do those nasty horror flicks that are more gore and shock value than suspense and plot twists....ya know?). The movie was good - although a bit on the long side- and I, personally, got confused and could not easily keep up with the plot. It is not hard to confuse me, however, so that's not saying much. There were too many agents to keep track of and too much jumping between the 1960s and earlier times between the 1930s and the 1950s. If you like spy/espionage and are not easily confused I'd say go ahead and watch it - otherwise you might want to pass.
Before we headed to dinner I called to check in with the grands and make sure things were relatively peaceful at home. We had a rough departure with A having screaming fits and tantrums about doing some cleaning up so I just had to be sure things were going ok. As it turns out the girls had been having a great evening were acting like "model children" according to my MIL (phew! guess we provided enough incentives through blatant threats to ensure cooperative children for the evening). We headed off to our dinner with an easy conscience and plans to enjoy ourselves. We picked a place downtown that we rarely go to because it's a bit on the pricey side. But, we decided we were worth a little spoiling! Rick ordered a dish called Linguine fra Diavlo which was shrimp, sausage and chicken in a spicy red sauce over pasta. I ordered the Bistro Medallions which was beef wrapped in bacon and served with a mushroom demi-glaze. Sooooooo good. The caramel apple pie was also quite delicious and I'm sure none of this was on my self-proclaimed "diet plan" but it's not often that we get out for date night so I decided to enjoy it without guilt!
It was great to be out and about with Rick and enjoy having uninterrupted conversations. No need to cut up anyone else's food. No need to cook or wash dishes. Just him and me snuggling at the movies and eating a delicious dinner. No distractions, no time constraints, no stress. Ahhhhh....
One completely unrelated side note: there was a group seated next to us at the restaurant - looked like mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, and a toddler of perhaps 18 months - and the entire time they were seated at the restaurant they had the toddler perched in her highchair facing a portable dvd player that was sitting on the bench next to dad! And dad was feeding her some dinner to ensure that she actually ate something (I assume that if he did not feed her she would not have eaten much of anything because she was so transfixed on the video screen). I know we tend to be on the ultra-conservative side when it comes to TV viewing, but I thought that was a bit over the top. Does anyone else agree? I guess they figured it would keep her quiet and entertained so they could enjoy their dinner but I would tend to disagree with that tactic. I guess because I'm also not one to take small children to swank restaurants at what would have been past my 18-month-old child's bedtime (we got there at 7:30ish and they were there until at least 8:30). Feel free to weigh in on this topic. I'm curious whether I'm being too judgemental because of my own biases about TV or if others think sitting an 18-month-old in front of screen for a few hours of quiet at a restaurant is "ok" in their own personal book of parenting tricks.
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