STITCHES!

I always knew this day would come. I have worried about it for years, actually. Yesterday my first child got stitches. So here is the story...

The Elders came to drop something off at our house and Bryson talked them into a game of "Poison" (a basketball game where you essentially take turns shooting the ball and try to get other people out in various ways). While they were playing, Bryson slipped on some wet grass and fell onto the metal edging that goes around the grass and the rocks in our yard. He got cut on his leg, just above the ankle. Taking into account that I really have lived a fairly sheltered life, it was probably the worst cut I have ever seen. Not that it was that deep or big or even very bloody, but you could see down "in" and it was obvious that it was worse than just a regular scrape or cut. Anyway, I took him into Urgent Care (THANKS so much to Stephanie for watching Parker and Abbey!! - that would have been a nightmare!) and he ended up with stitches.

It actually turned out to be kind of a tender time for him and me. He was pretty scared when he heard he would need stitches. He wanted me to hold his hand and stand right next to him. It has been a long time since my big boy needed his Mommy. Once the Dr. started working on him, he calmed down a lot and things were fine. I think he was a little surprised at how much it didn't hurt. I was glad that he did something that he was really scared to do. I hope he will remember that as he grows - that he can do hard things. (One of the most interesting details in Bryson's mind is that the Dr. only had one arm. That was somewhat fascinating.)

So, another little bonding moment happened this morning and I wanted to record it... He woke up right around six and was complaining that his leg hurt. I, still very very sleepy, got him some medicine and we took off the bandages and checked it. Since I don't like to take medicine on an empty stomach, I went and got him a little bowl of cheerios to eat in his bed. When I came back up he said, "Thanks for doing all this, Mom. You didn't have to." It was so sweet! "You didn't have to"? I mean, isn't there like a billion things I do like that every day that I don't have to, but somehow this was meaningful for him, which just makes it so WORTH IT.

ANYWAY, the major repurcussions of the injury are: no more swimming lessons until we get back from UT/AK, and probably no track meet this Friday which they have been training for for months now. That is very disappointing. But we have made it through our first time with stitches and it wasn't as bad as I always imagined...