Accidents

My boys are experts at finding ways to hurt themselves. And if Children's Protective Services is reading this, I'm a good dad. Really. I watch them constantly. But I only have to turn my head and one of them (usually the 3 year-old) finds a way to get hurt. A couple summers ago, Anders was playing on a play structure at the nature center and backed into the hole for climbing down the ladder. The 8-ft. ladder. He had a good-sized bump protruding from the back of his head. I had biked over with the boys. There wasn't an easy (or cheap) way to get him to the doctor if I needed to (which, thankfully, I didn't). I was paranoid the whole way home that he was going to have a concussion or something.

Our most recent one was when the 3 year-old had pulled himself up on the sink to wash his hands (translate: play in the water) after sitting on the toilet. He's at that independent stage where he doesn't tell us when he's going and doesn't want us to be there. Anyway, he had pulled himself up on the sink sans pants (which he always takes off when he sits on the toilet). And apparently he slipped. And cut his boy part on the hand of the cabinet under the sink. The screaming was what alerted me that he was in the bathroom and needed help. It was a bit too painful for me to look at. I grabbed a wet cloth and put it on his crotch to clean off the blood. Thankfully, my wife was on the way home from work. It had stopped bleeding by the time she was home. We called the nurses' hotline to see if we should take him in. They said it was a good idea just to make sure there wasn't any damage or risk of infection. The good news was that all was okay. It's an area that heals quickly. And hopefully he won't be too scarred by the experience.

That's a short tale of some of their accidents. They happen almost daily. One bonks his head on his table. Another runs across the apartment and slips, banging his chin on the coffee table. Bonk is common word in our house. So is "boo-boo buddy" and "ooma kiss" (what Nils called the kiss we would put on his owies when he was little).

I think some kids are just more accident prone. It's also a good sign that they're active. I'm not going to coddle them and try to protect them their whole life. I want to try to teach them to explore and have fun safely. And accidents will always happen. No matter how careful you are, they will occur. But I'll be their for my boys, offering compassion and a hug. And an ooma kiss when needed.