Mother's Day. The mere mention of it conjures up happy thoughts and smiles for all Moms. Nice weather. Fragrant spring flowers in bloom. Togetherness. Hugs, kisses, love and, most of all, appreciation. Rarely does Mother's Day bring about thoughts of concussions, Emergency Room visits and CT scans.
In years to come I will think back on Mother's Day 2010 and remember those frightening things, as well as the wonderful things.
Michael, Ellie and the neighbor girls were frolicking on our neighbor's trampoline that afternoon, while I was planting our garden. Around 4:30pm, while planting my green beans, I remember hearing the kids chanting something to the effect of "Dead man, dead man, come alive". Yeah, it struck me as being a bit odd, too. But hey- their ages range from 6.5 to 10yrs and I remember coming up with some particularly head-scratching rhymes at that age myself.
Two hours later we were sitting down to dinner. One of Michael's favorite summer-time meals: hot dogs. This night, however, Michael came to the table & whimpered that he wasn't feeling well. He said his head hurt real bad and he felt nauseous. The two of us, dinner plates full & ready to go, left the table & took a seat in the living room with a pail, just in case. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the pail was going to be a neccessity.
We hadn't sat there for 2 minutes when Ellie piped up to suggest that maybe Michael had a headache from when he fell off the trampoline. (Hmmmm.....maybe this was something that Mom should've been alerted to hours earlier!?) I asked Michael what had happened and, as he opened his mouth to explain, no words came out.....but it sure was good thinking to have that pail handy! Obviously he was in no shape to tell me the events of the afternoon so Ellie explained.
The kids had been playing a game that they made up called Dead Man. One person crawls around the trampoline with their eyes closed while the others chant the aforementioned chant, willing the Dead Man back to life. Michael had been the Dead Man, but he didn't come alive. He had unknowingly crawled to the edge of the trampoline and, because his eyes were closed, went right over the edge & straight down on his head. Now, 2 hours later, he was feeling the effects of a concussion.
That made for trip #9 (between all 4 kiddos) to the Emergency Room where they delighted the boy with a ride in a powdered donut, known to the rest of the world as a CT scan. Thankfully, everything looked fine and we were sent home about 2.5 hours after arriving.
That's not exactly how I wanted to spend my Mother's Day, or any day for that matter. But, while sitting in a tiny Emergency Room, I certainly got, and gave, my fair share of hugs and kisses, poured some love on my little boy and, most definately, appreciated the fact that it could've been so much worse than what it was.
Four kids, 9 trips to the ER. In case you're curious, here's a rundown:
Brady:
In years to come I will think back on Mother's Day 2010 and remember those frightening things, as well as the wonderful things.
Michael, Ellie and the neighbor girls were frolicking on our neighbor's trampoline that afternoon, while I was planting our garden. Around 4:30pm, while planting my green beans, I remember hearing the kids chanting something to the effect of "Dead man, dead man, come alive". Yeah, it struck me as being a bit odd, too. But hey- their ages range from 6.5 to 10yrs and I remember coming up with some particularly head-scratching rhymes at that age myself.
Two hours later we were sitting down to dinner. One of Michael's favorite summer-time meals: hot dogs. This night, however, Michael came to the table & whimpered that he wasn't feeling well. He said his head hurt real bad and he felt nauseous. The two of us, dinner plates full & ready to go, left the table & took a seat in the living room with a pail, just in case. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the pail was going to be a neccessity.
We hadn't sat there for 2 minutes when Ellie piped up to suggest that maybe Michael had a headache from when he fell off the trampoline. (Hmmmm.....maybe this was something that Mom should've been alerted to hours earlier!?) I asked Michael what had happened and, as he opened his mouth to explain, no words came out.....but it sure was good thinking to have that pail handy! Obviously he was in no shape to tell me the events of the afternoon so Ellie explained.
The kids had been playing a game that they made up called Dead Man. One person crawls around the trampoline with their eyes closed while the others chant the aforementioned chant, willing the Dead Man back to life. Michael had been the Dead Man, but he didn't come alive. He had unknowingly crawled to the edge of the trampoline and, because his eyes were closed, went right over the edge & straight down on his head. Now, 2 hours later, he was feeling the effects of a concussion.
That made for trip #9 (between all 4 kiddos) to the Emergency Room where they delighted the boy with a ride in a powdered donut, known to the rest of the world as a CT scan. Thankfully, everything looked fine and we were sent home about 2.5 hours after arriving.
That's not exactly how I wanted to spend my Mother's Day, or any day for that matter. But, while sitting in a tiny Emergency Room, I certainly got, and gave, my fair share of hugs and kisses, poured some love on my little boy and, most definately, appreciated the fact that it could've been so much worse than what it was.
Four kids, 9 trips to the ER. In case you're curious, here's a rundown:
Brady:
- Chin vs. gravel driveway = nice gash
- Knife vs. hand = deep cut
- Appendicitis = Ouch!
Ellie:
- Girl vs. stairs = broken collarbone
- Girl vs. high heels = sprained ankle
Michael:
- Boy vs. toy bike = lacerated eyebrow
- Boy vs. knife = sliced thumb
- Boy vs. gravity = concussion
Andrew:
- Boy vs. Croup = respiratory distress/O2 sats in low 80s
I think that's about enough for one lifetime, don't you agree?
