Those cringe-worthy mom moments

I had one of those moments last night. The kind when you are playing with your two girls, giggling and rolling around on the bed. And then your one girl misjudges where she is and goes head first into the corner of the night stand. She holds her head and says over and over "I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay. I just need to cry a little bit". And then you hope that she's right and it's just a bonk but something tells you that's not the case. Your gut is telling you to pick her up off the pillow and when you do you see the blood, coming from the top of her head.

Yes, I had one of those cringe-worthy mom moments. Stay calm. Get dressed. Get her dressed. Get into the car and head to the hospital. All the while trying to not let your heart break as she is so scared about everything that is happening. She clings to every word you say. "Are you sure it's a little one?" "What do you think they will do for it?" "Will it hurt?" "How old were you when you got stitches?". And then when you pull up you can hear the panic in her voice and the tears start to flow again "We're going to the HOSPITAL? Why are we going to the HOSPITAL?". Because when her sister got stitches two years ago, her doctor's office was open and they did it very calmly and quietly there.

You hope the Emergency Department isn't packed and that you can get seen quickly. And you do. An angel of a nurse comes in and gets your little girl to smile and look forward to a popsicle at the end of her visit. Every once in a while, when the numbing medicine is sitting on her head, the shaking, nervous questions and tears come again. And when the doctor comes in and says that she is going to put a couple of staples in your child's head you don't panic on the outside but you are freaking out on the inside, trying to keep your child calm as you carefully question the doctor about the benefits of staples over stitches.

And in the end, an injection to numb the laceration and two staples later, your little girl is shaking like a leaf eating her grape popsicle and trying to process what just happened. The tears and shaky words come and go in spurts. But she falls asleep quickly once she's home and wakes up feeling great the next morning.

Kids are amazing!