When my older two were 4 and 5, they were jumping on my mom's
trampoline one evening after supper. My mom and I were having coffee
and watching them. Suddenly....'AHHH!' ... they both stopped. The
older boy held his hand to the top of his head, and the younger
clutched his lower face, which was bleeding. His teeth had conked
into his brother's head. And his tooth had also cut through his own
lip. His upper lip was split open, badly enough to sever a vein (one
end of the vein was visible).
I took him to the emergency room. He held a cold, wet cloth to
his lip as we waited. And waited. Three hours went by before he was
called in! When we got into the next room, he was examined, and since
stitches were needed, he was 'prepped' for stitches.
By 'prepped', I mean this: He was wrapped in a sheet (like a
cocoon), then another sheet was laid atop him. This second sheet was
taped to the bedframe.My son wasn't afraid.. he was actually more
interested than anything. Anyway, the nurse 'prepped' him, and left
us to wait for the doctor. We waited. And waited, and waited. It was
getting to be so late at night.... WAYYY past bedtime. He started to
feel hot. He said to me, "Do you think I can get out of these
sheets? I bet I can!"
I let him try. It was better than just laying there doing MORE
waiting. And he did it.... he squirmed and struggled and pressed his
body against the restraints until the tape finally ripped and he freed
himself. Finally (much later) a doctor came in to stitch him. He got
taped back up and endured the procedure without much dificulty.
So maybe a week later, I took him grocery shopping, sitting in
the child-seat of the grocery cart. When we got in line, he kept
turning around to try to help put the groceries on the conveyor belt.
An eldery man was behind us, and the man smiled at my son and said.
"Wow, you're a pretty strong kid..."
My son piped up: "Yeah! I'm so strong... I can even escape
when they tape me to the bed!"
|
