Noah received his first set of stitches last Friday, on Tyler's birthday. I was in the middle of making Ty's requested birthday dinner menu, when Noah came running down the stairs screaming in agony. His hand was over his eye and very red blood was gushing down his arm. Imagine my panic and my wild imagination! Maybe he put his eye out while jedi training with lightsabers; maybe Tyler hit him with a baseball bat; maybe Emma stuck a fork in him ... thoughts like this rushed through my mind in the 3.2 seconds it took him to reach me.
I raced him into the bathroom. This was a huge mistake because there is a mirror in there. Noah took one look at his face and wailed in sheer terror. After a quick inspection I discovered he simply needed some stitches next to his eye. I was very relieved to find his eye still in its proper place. I cleaned the blood off his face and Noah calmed down. But Tyler was a bunch of nerves. I was certain Ty was somehow involved with this injury, but he was innocent. Noah had simply slipped in his room and smashed his face into the metal bar on his bed. (Noah has this idea that he is a superhero. Sometimes he runs around the house as fast as he can, like The Flash, and then he runs into things.) Tyler was an emotional mess and when I announced we were taking Noah to the doctor for stitches, he nearly fainted. "Stitches?!"
Noah had no idea what stitches were and I wasn't planning to tell him at that moment. But Tyler knew exactly what they were and his mind was freaking out. He was in tears thinking about Noah having to have all those needles stuck into his face. I seriously worried he was going to throw up. (Tyler has issues with needles. Every year he has to have a flu shot and every year it takes about 3 nurses and myself to hold him down. He is an accomplished screamer. I'm sure he'll be great in horror movies one day.) We reached urgent care and thankfully only had to wait a few minutes before Noah was called back. Noah was a brave guy - never cried, never moved, he just held my hand silently until it was over. Tyler had to wait in the hall. And Emma ... she couldn't have been more interested in those stitches. She sat up on the bed and watched the whole thing unfold, frustrated that she couldn't get a better view.
All children are so different.
"Here comes the invalid. I have to have two kinds of ice cream. I'm recuperating." ~ Tootie Smith, 1944 (Name that movie)
4 comments:
Oh what a brave boy!!! And how interesting indeed to see their different reactions. How do you keep that bandage on? It must be hard. I hope he is feeling okay and that it heals nicely!
Poor guy. That must have been scary for you. I worry about stuff like that when I have kids - stuff the requires stitches. Sounds like he was very brave though.
Meet me in Saint Louis! Do I win a prize?!?!? My sister was Tootie in a play and I grew up on musicals... I'll take two scoops of ice cream any day though... invalid or not! =)
That is very interesting how each of the kids had such drasticly different reactions to the situations. I'm very nervous for the first time Carter comes screaming for me because of some scary injury! Hope Noah is feeling better soon!
Yay, Laura! Yes, you do win a prize. I can't tell you what it is yet because I haven't quite yet decided what it is. But it will be great!
Meet Me in St. Louis is a classic and Tootie is my most favorite character.
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