Wednesday, November 20, 2013

All's Quiet on the Boys' Room Front Until...

Most parents get nervous when their children-at-play get quiet. Me? I get happy. It means they're playing nicely. It means they're not fighting. It means I can ignore them. Sure I checked on them, very sneakily, so as to not disturb their cooperative play. And then I returned with the camera very sneakily to catch this gem. (Rhett in the jail; Ollie with no pants, but with ill-put-on swimsuit and sun hat.)


But then I returned to my house cleaning, or newspaper reading, or internetting. Until. Until I heard the bang followed by the "MOM COME HERE!" I quickly came and saw Rhett, bleeding from the head. So not awesome.

There was a pretty big gash (source of which is still a mystery--dresser? jail?), and me with all my medical training, immediately called Chuck, with all his medical training. He happened to be at some leadership meetings for Stake Conference, but after my two calls, he knew something was wrong. He came home immediately, and away Rhett and I went to the emergency room. In the end, Rhett ended up with only some laceration glue, a popsicle, and some ice cream for the whole family.

Me? I probably should feel more guilty. I mean, maybe this wouldn't have happened had I been watching them, or if I had been in the same room. But then again, as parents don't we want our children to learn to play without us standing over them at every second? As parents, don't we want our children to learn to play with each other without us refereeing every squabble? Rhett's okay. I'm okay (although $100 poorer). It made our unexciting lives a bit exciting for a couple of hours. Not bad at all.

P.S. Then, because Ollie can't have Rhett getting all the attention, Ollie caught himeslf an ear infection Monday morning. The poor dude was screaming, "OWIE" all morning long.

3 comments:

  1. A battle wound! Good for Rhett! Glad he's okay. And I completely agree with your last paragraph. Kids playing without our hovering is essential to their development. You didn't have to be there. Also, I love seeing/hearing (not seeing/not hearing) siblings play together - this is such a great age, right??

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  2. oh man, so sorry! but i'm glad all is well. of course rhett could have still hit his head with you right there. :) so no guilt trip about that! and i can't believe you only ended up with a $100 bill - that's excellent for an ER visit.

    also, i think what rhett said is so great, "Mom, come here!" my kids would have probably just screamed and cried and yelled. :)

    again, i'm glad all is well. oh, except for ollie's ear infection. total bummer! hopefully some meds will help him out quickly.

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  3. I love so much about this post! I agree that kids need to play on their own. I'm hoping for more and more of that now that Axton and Elodie are a little older.

    I also loved seeing a (happy) mess in YOUR house!

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