Kick Off To Smmer Vacation

We decided to start our first official day of summer vacation with a bloody head wound and a trip to the doctors office! Yep!! That's how we like to do things around here!

The day began pretty normal... cartoons, breakfast, a little laundry, a little cleaning, a trip to Walmart for some sandbox toys, lunch, playtime outside, Katelyn running into the house yelling " MOM! MOM! Laura hit her head!" Right about here is where things got a little crazy! I hurry outside thinking I'll kiss it better, give her a hug and we'll be good to go again... WRONG! Laura's standing by her bike crying hysterically. It's obvious she's crashed her bike.

"Oh Sweetie, are you OK?" I start examining her head to see where she's hurt and how bad. That's when I see the blood dripping from her hair... Oh Boy! I start to move her hair out of the way which reveals blood running down her neck and soaking into her shirt! WOW! "OK Karen, " I tell myself, "Remain calm. Remember head wounds bleed a lot! It doesn't always mean that there is a horrible gash."

"Laura you're going to be just fine." I pick her up, "Let's get you in the house and..." unaware that she is bleeding, Laura touches her head and before I can stop her, looks at her hand. What's the next level after hysterical?

I get her in the house and attempt to stop the bleeding with a cold wet washcloth. No luck. I can't get a good look at the wound with all the bloody matted hair. I turn on the water in the bathtub and hold her head under the flow. The water runs orange and the smell of iron is so strong I'm staring to feel slightly sick. Now I can finally see the wound. It looks like just a skinned scrape. Well that's not so bad. I congratulate myself for not freaking out the way I did when Laura slipped on a stool and bit through her tongue. There was so much blood that time and I couldn't get it to stop. I panicked and called 911! That's a whole other story, and I learned my lesson from that one!

Well I got her cleaned up, gave her a good dose of Children's Motrin, and sat down with her to watch some Tom and Jerry, and rest and relax. The bleeding seemed to have stopped. Katelyn, who has abandoned her dream of becoming a vet due to her intolerance to shots and blood, had disappeared through all of the above events, and had taken that time to make Laura a 'Get Well' card and arrange a comfy little spot for her on the couch. About an hour later Laura was feeling good. Good enough to be told to take it easy and stop running around the house! Katelyn's best friend had come over to play and Katelyn wanted to show her Laura's injury. I parted her hair and discovered it was still bleeding. Minor compared to before, but still after three hours that didn't seem right. I called the doctor for advice. 'Oh that needs to be looked at! Bring her in right away! '

I call our little friend's mom and explain the situation. She insists on watching the girls while I take Laura in. We hop in the car and drive to their house. As I'm dropping off the girls both her mom and dad come out. It just so happens her dad is a doctor and generously offers to look at Laura's head. We go inside, he cleans it up a little more to reveal a half inch cut. A little specialized glue and a few minutes latter and Laura, my tough little trooper, is ready to go.

If you ask Laura to explain what happened she'll tell you, "I crashed on my bike and hit my head. It was bleeding. I had a hole in my head and he glued my head on."

I hope Laura's not creating a trend. Last year the same week school got out she decided to ride her bike down a hill and into a barbed wire fence. She had more then a few band aids on her little body that time... Oh the memories we're making!