When Bad Things Happen to Little People

It didn't start out that bad. Silas woke up a little before six, Micah not long after. I had plenty of time before breakfast to check Amazon holiday lightning deals, my email, and even Halle Berry's mismatched outfit that Yahoo thought was news.

Just minutes before breakfast, Micah began one of his marathon tantrums because I couldn't make his train track fit together the way he wanted. He carried on for 30 minutes or so (on his bed, at my insistence) and comes out to tell me what I thought was "I moved the bunk bed". But I just took him back to his bed thinking he was trying to manipulate my rule for tantrum containment for what would have been the 4th time in the 30 minutes thus far. I set him down, gave him his blanket and a kleenex and told him I'd be happy to talk when he had calmed down.

Twenty minutes later he calmed down enough to talk and I saw the worst black eye I've ever seen on any of my kids. Comfort FAIL. I'd let him cry while legitimately and seriously hurt. He sat on my lap for a while until Liza insisted she not remain in her booster seat any longer.

We worked through school. We had a teary morning but we were making it just fine. Kids started telling me at 10:45 how starving they were. And thinking to myself that it just might work to my benefit to eat so early (because it would have followed with early and extra long naps) I began to fix lunch.

Until I heard the thud.

And then I heard the yelling
"Sorry Liza! Liza! Sorry. Mom I said sorry to Liza!"

And then I heard a slight wail in followed by the cry out that did...not...stop...

I picked Liza up flailing, clutching at my shirt, and still pushing that cry out. She began to look panicked and started to turn a funny color grayish white. Her eyes rolled back into her head, she arched her back and neck and passed out in my arms. It seemed like a long time before she took a breath but now I estimate it was only about 5 seconds. It's interesting what the mind can do in 5 seconds. I had a plan: tell Silas to find a phone, administer rescue breathing, think about who might babysit while in the ER, let the babysitter know there's pizza in the freezer and juice boxes in the pantry, and nap time IMMEDIATELY follows lunch today.

After she started to breath again, it wasn't long before she regained consciousness. I checked for blood and protruding bones. (I found none.) From that point until well after supper she informed everyone "I bonk head." I asked her what she hit her head on. It was different every time: a plate, a bunny, her other head. Now I'm no doctor, but I reckon a lapse in consciousness can effect short term memory.

It got better. After crying for an hour about what a horrible parent I thought I was, Mrs. Oyler came to help clean the house and Joel came home to check out the wounded. The children have all survived the day.