1. William, 18 months, walked across the room, tripped on his own feet, and landed on a plastic cup. The cup did not move; the cut, which neatly bisected his left eyebrow, required ten stitches.
2. William, 33 months, stood on the toilet and leaned over the sink. His hands slipped; his chin hit the counter. At the emergency room, they sealed the slit in his chin with super glue.
3. William, 3 years plus, played with his baby brother on the outskirts of a soccer field. Apparently Everett’s fingernails wanted cutting; he accidentally scratched William’s cornea. We didn’t believe that his eye could really be hurting all that much, but when, hours later, he patiently continued to mention that his eye hurt, we took him to the emergency room. Then we knew….
4. Emma Grace, 28 months, woke from her nap where, to our surprise, a bat was flapping around. There was no sign of a bite; the baby was undistressed. But did you know that, by the time a person shows symptoms of having rabies, it is Too Late to help her? Emma Grace made (how many?) visits to the emergency room for the series of (how many?) rabies shots: at least five over a period of eight weeks.
5. Emma Grace, four years and one month, was rushed to the ER in an ambulance an hour after her mother and Nana did the same. The deck they had been standing on collapsed; Emma Grace bounced right up, shaken but, seemingly, unhurt. An hour later, she complained of nausea, so the ambulance returned for her. She was fine.
6. May 5, 2006: Emma Grace, five years and two months, is playing “let’s-fall-back-onto-the-bed” with a friend. But one time, when she falls back, her head hits the windowsill, opening a half-inch slit on her scalp. All The Blood In Her Body comes out, matting her hair, soaking into her ballet costume, staining her quilt, spilling over her arm, and generally horrifying her. It is all her mother can do to calm her and remain calm herself, and then she has to decide what to do. Praise be for friends like Bonnie and Dr. Allen, who can think clearly and sew! Several hours and two stitches later, Emma Grace is over the worst of the trauma, but it’s Really Hard to wash her hair.
That’s it, so far.
And– I am not being facetious In The Least– I am counting my blessings!
