Thursday, March 22, 2007

E.R.

“Boys, hurry up and get dressed! We need to leave in five minutes.” The words were barely shouted up the stairs when the crash came. The huge, something-terrible-has-happened crash that Moms around the world dread. Running up the stairs, Twin B. meets me in the hall yelling, “Emergency! Come quick!” I hear Twin A. screaming, and find him trapped under his dresser.

Quickly pulling the dresser off of him, I interrupt Twin B. who is trying to explain what happened.
“I was reaching for my undies…”
“We’ll talk later. We need to take care of your brother now. Run and get Daddy. Interrupt him if he’s on the phone and tell him it’s an emergency.”
Taking my other boy in my lap, I pray aloud, “God, may we know your presence right now, in this moment.”
“What’s presence?” Twin A. asks while still sobbing.
“God is with us,” I tell him, “even when we don’t notice. I’m asking God to help us notice that He is here with us right now because you’re hurt.”

Fifteen minutes later, my husband and A. were off to the E.R. to assess his injuries and get stitches for the gash on his forehead. I turn my attention to the other boy, sitting quietly on the couch.
“That was sure scary,” I began.
“Yeah.” Twin B. responds, his eyes welling up with tears. “I was just trying to get some undies. A. was sitting on the floor getting dressed and I opened the drawer to get my undies and the whole thing tipped over. I tried to grab it but I was too late.” Tears rolled down his cheeks. “I feel so sad for A.”
I took him into my arms and reassured him, “It wasn’t your fault A. got hurt. It was an accident.”
“But you always tell us to be careful,” he continued, his tears gaining momentum.
“Yes. And you will be now, won’t you?”
“Yes.”
“And Mommy and Daddy will bolt the dresser to the wall so it can’t happen again. We should have done that a long time ago. Accidents happen, B.”
His shoulders lifted. “I still feel really bad for A.”
“Me too, B.”
So off we went to the store for balloons and chocolate donuts and a box of Bamm Bamm Berry Pebbles to cheer his brother and to make ourselves feel useful.

My own tears come later, when I call the pediatrician to update her. “Ten stitches, no broken bones.”
“Thank goodness,” she says.
“I feel like such a terrible mother. How many times have I thought about bolting that dresser to the wall, but just haven’t gotten around to it?” My own tears fall freely now.
“No,” she says, “accidents happen. And we were lucky.”


“In everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thes. 5:18)

And so we give thanks…

For calm, quick thinking in an emergency.
For my husband, who was working from home today.
For health insurance and a good hospital nearby.
For many teachable moments with our noisy boys.
For A.’s courage at the E.R. and his relatively minor injuries.
For grace.
And, last but not least…
For chocolate donuts.

15 comments:

spaghettipie said...

I opened your blog tonight thinking, man, I hope she's written something new and my heart leapt in my chest when I saw the title: ER. I'm glad everything is okay now, and I am so encouraged and inspired by your account and how you handled it all. I'm not sure I would've had my wits about me to use the situation as such a beautiful teaching moment. His grace is so amazing - I don't know how we could be parents without it.

23 degrees said...

Poor little guy! And poor mommy! Glad Mr.Llama was home.

Sleep well my friends!

Llama Momma said...

SP - Years ago, way before kids, my husband passed out in the middle of the night, falling on the sharp corner of our wooden futon, making a gash in his chest. He woke me up, yelling, "Honey, I need some help!" When I saw the blood, I immediately started throwing up. I remember thinking, "What a terrible time to get the stomach flu!" and my poor husband was yelling, "Honey. I need you to get a grip and bring me a towel to stop the bleeding." Horrible.

I've always been terrified of accidents with the children that involve blood. I'm amazed by my own calm yesterday, and believe it was divine intervention. It was also the reason I started praying aloud -- for myself as much as A.

Of course, after the crisis passed, I was kind of a wreck. Shaking, eating chocolate donuts...it was a completely unproductive day. Well, unless you count a slew of crafts -- paper plate lions and fishies -- as "productive." I just ignored the ever-increasing mess and kept playing.

Today I'll have my work cut out for me!! :-)

Llama Momma said...

23 - Thank you. We both went to bed so early last night, we were just exhausted. The physiology of the "fight or flight" response is amazing to me. My ability to lift a dresser with one hand and pull my son out with the other is baffling. And then the exhaustion comes...later...which is why my husband and I were both ready for bed at 6:30! Too bad the kids don't go to bed until 7:30. :-)

Lara said...

LM-I saw your title on my RSS feed and thought "Oh no!". Sorry to hear about the accident. Glad to hear it wasn't worse. Poor A. (& B. for the shock).
I don't think it's necessarily all the precautions we take in parenting that makes us good moms, even if they're good things to do. It's our reactions in times of crisis. Struggles and crisis come to test our faith and our "mom mettle". Sounds like you had the reaction of a great mom!

L.L. Barkat said...

Ah, chlldren... how they do break our hearts. These things always give me a little glimpse of how God must feel when He looks at me climbing up one more dresser that He hasn't bolted to the wall.

I'm glad he's okay. You write of this with unquestionable love.

Craver Vii said...

(gasp) That was gut-wrenching. I do hope everyone's okay now. Thank God for balloons and Bam-Bam Berry Pebbles, too. :-)

I shudder to think what would happen to our beloved children were it not for the grace of God.

“You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?” Psalm 56:8

Anonymous said...

Oh, why do accidents have to happen?

Not productive? Are you kidding? You just explained God's sovereignty ("Accidents happen") and God's immanence ("God is with us") to two five-year-olds.

And that scar on the head is now a memorial of God's faithfulness.

Llama Momma said...

AMM & LL - thank you, fellow moms, for your gracious responses.

And Craver - I always marvel that our only trips to the ER are the results of seemingly innocent events (not rough housing). So far: walking across the hall at church (A. fell and broke his arm), walking down the stairs (B. scratched his cornea), and now, getting dressed.

Charity - thank you for reminding me of what's really important. Certainly not a tidy house or fancy supper, but the seeds of faith in my children, growing by leaps and bounds through this difficulty.

Thankfully, A. seems no worse for the wear except for the bandage on his head. We're busily getting ready for tomorrow...llama papa's b-day!! :-)

Ted M. Gossard said...

Llama Momma, Praise God for his hand there. And wonderful recounting of it. How wonderful these years with your children. I hope someday they'll always have what you've written. It'll be very special to them, as well as to you. And thanks for sharing it with us.

Llama Momma said...

Ted - thanks for stopping by. And so good to remember to be grateful for these years. They are wonderful, even in the chaotic moments.

None of my three boys have baby books, but they all have reams of stories about themselves, our family, and God's faithfulness to us in both the difficult and the everyday details of life.

Anonymous said...

Oh, give A. a big hug from us. So sorry this happened to such a sweetie. A big hug for you, too, Mama!

Halfmom said...

this may sound a bit strange - but don't forget to take a picture of the stitched little face.

My almost 23 yr old has a prized one of similar nature of stitches starting on the bridge of her nose and going straight half-way up her forehead - seems her mind told her she could run (at 18 months) faster than her feet could keep up and she fell and popped her head open on a desk drawer nob.

I'm glad your little one is doing well. You must have been quite exhausted when it was all over!

Llama Momma said...

sarah - thank you.

halfmom - we did take a picture. Hopefully our "injury" scrapbook won't get too big! Ouchie for your not-so-little anymore little one. When you observe young children at play, it's remarkable they don't get hurt much more than they do.

Andrea said...

Came here via Seedling in Stone--

I understand you here. My son put his little hand in my hot tea almost 2 months ago--I know the feeling. Thankfully he is healed, but it is sure scary. Glad everything is ok.