Tuesday, September 9, 2008

It wicks blood too.

So I made this nice coat for my son the other day. Tonight he comes in the house clutching his head saying he fell and it the fence. I pull off his hood and there is blood. A lot. He's four. This is my first head wound. Don't worry, I'm medically trained. I can help. Isn't that what you are supposed to say to make people feel more comfortable??

While applying pressure to wound, "How exactly did you hit the fence with your head?"

"I just fell."

"How did you fall? What were you doing?"

"Just nothin' I was playing."

"Let's go outside so you can show me."

"See I hit it on the fence. Right there."

Blood is seeping through the fingers, "Remember how you should never lie? Now it is really important that you don't lie. Where. did. you. hit. your. head?"

The eyes tear up, the big lip comes out, "Well I took my purple car and put it next to the boat. I climbed up on the car 'cause I was trying to get in the boat. I fell off and hit this piece of metal. With my head. Is it bleeding??!!?!?!? It's bleeding!!!!! Mom, there's blood!!!!! OOOOOOWWWWWW, OOOOOWWWWW, IT'S BLEEDING!!!!! IT HURTS!!!!!!!!!!"

So, issue one, he was trying to crawl into a boat that sits 12' off the ground using a big purple, plastic car on wheels. Issue two is that he lied. And issue three, blood on his new coat. Lots of blood. That's is what stain stick is for I suppose.

Ah, to be the mother of boys. I wish there was an emergency room punch card because I think we're gonna need it. This cut didn't warrant any stitches but, again, he's only four. I'm sure his stunts are only going to get bigger.

14 comments:

Cathy said...

Oh, boys....I always thought folks with boys were exaggerating til I had one. After 3 trips to ER, one heimlich manuever, 3 calls to Poison Control, he got diagnosed ADD in 4th grade. He's 17 & life is still very interesting. Hang in there girl. Boys....

Gry said...

Poor kid. And poor coat.

It is not just boys; I think most kids have an emergency room phase.

As a child, I was a quiet girl who liked to sit by myself and draw. Nevertheless, the year I was seven, my parents had to take me to the emergency room thrice with one concussion and two bad head injuries. My mother says the nurses eyed her suspiciously when she brought me in the third time; a bleeding child with many fresh scars.

Meg said...

As I told Ann Steeves when she posted about taking her son to the emergency room, I used to keep a tote bag in the hall closet filled with crossword puzzles, books and knitting for those times I needed to dash out the door to the ER with my own son. I don't know what the ER wait times are like in your area but here they are looong.

Anonymous said...

I too am a mother of a four year old boy and he often uses strange things to climb up on (ie ... wagons, toy chairs or worse an uncooperative dog). We haven't experience anything beyond bumps and bruises (knock on wood), luckily I have my responsible 7 yr old girl to balance him out! Good luck and love the coat. myrcrew

kasizzle said...

I am surely sympathetic.
My boy isn't much of a daredevil, but we've been to the ER more times than with my girl. I tell him the scars add character!
We even had to check out the ER in a strange town on vacation this past summer for staples in his head.
Hope the blood comes out. I know you worked hard on the jacket. How many times did he get to wear it?

-E said...

My daughter is 10 years old (and a Black Belt to boot) and has never had worse than a scrape. My son is 23 months and is an ER professional. I'm strapping on my seatbelt for this one.

*and kudos to then little man for fessing up :) he sounds like a sweetie

Gretchen the Household Deity said...

Hydrogen Peroxide is great at getting out blood stains, but be sure to test it on a scrap if you have one because it can bleach out dark colors. Poor little guy! I hope his head is feeling better. My only emergency room visit as a kid was for a bad cut over my eyebrow that required three stitches. It happened when my sister and I ran into each and bumped heads. Seriously.

Unknown said...

Awww, poor kid! Just glad he is okay. Amazing how head wounds, even small cuts, gush and gush! And even more amazing is how the cry becomes a scream with the sight of blood! I did mean him, not you... hang in there!

Gorgeous Things said...

Oh yeah, I hear you! We spend Labor Day at the emergency room at Winchester Hospital getting his ankle stitched after he gashed it open on the rocks in Gloucester. I'll have to make sure I keep a bag of handsewing a la LindsayT. I'm glad he's feeling better!

Dana said...

Guess I'm lucky, sort of. My boy's only gotten stitches when my daughter through a bucket at him. Otherwise our days go something like this, Me: "Stop riding your bike in the (funeral home) parking lot when there's a funeral. You're going to get hit by a car." Him, "But I didn't get hit by a car." Me: "Don't jump off the bathtub, you'll fall and crack your head open." Him: "But I just jumped and didn't crack my head open." Me: "Just do what I say and stop thinking!" :)

Anonymous said...

So glad to hear he's okay. MY most memorable ER trip was FOR dd, BUT it was ds's FAULT! LOL.
Memorial day weekend, I had a 6-week old that required an emergency C-section. We have block fences surrounding our property, ds (5 yo) wanted to show dd (3 yo) how to get up on the top of the fence using a tricycle as a "ladder"(?) dd fell into neighbors yard who (fortunately) was a PA, and wife was a nurse. Thank the Lord, 'cause she was bleeding A LOT! She DID require stitches, and it was NOT fun on Memorial Day weekend. DD will be turning 21 in less than a month (time flies!) and still has a scar.

Keely said...

Yep - It's not just boys. We've had 2 ER visits in 10 days with our just turned 8yo DD. The nurses remembered us from the first time. That brings her total to 4 this year - concussion, a broken arm/broken nose and concussion, broken fingers and a deep gash on the head. In the same year, DS has had a broken arm and the other DD badly sprained her ankle. I'm sure they've flagged our file there. I joked last time they should offer a Premier type card for frequent visitors.

Anonymous said...

Hydrogen peroxide. Foams those sticky proteins right out. I lived with an emergency room nurse...

They bo will grow those parts right back :-).

Sara said...

Aww right on the new jacket lol. Good story though. And don't be so sure it's a boy thing - I think I got my parents into the ER a lot more than my brother.

Love your sewing, got here via Pattern Review.