First ER trip!

Well, of course I knew it would happen eventually, and really we have made it 5 years with out a trip to the ER, so I consider myself lucky. And even more lucky that this trip was not more serious than it was.

We were at the mall. Jim was getting his eyes checked, and the kids and I were looking at the pet store across the hallway. We then decided to sit and wait for daddy on the benches in the middle court of the mall hallway. We exhausted pretty much every 'quiet/calm' game I could come up with - Eye Spy, Simon Says, etc. So, they were getting antsy and I let them run back and forth between the benches. Bad idea mom! JJ was wearing his new summer sandals, the ones that are bigger than his old shoes and thus he hasn't gotten used to wearing them yet. Of course, the inevitable happened. He ran, tripped and hit his mouth on the metal bench. He gashed his lip good, and pushed one of his upper (not front, but to the right of the front) teeth backward. Blood everywhere of course, and I had nothing, no diaper bag, no tissues, nothing. Ran over to the place where Jim was getting his exam, and asked them to get him. Poor guy....he had just had his eyes dialated for his exam. It was obvious that we were making a trip to the ER at that point, because the lip looked pretty bad...almost like a piece was missing from it, rather than just cut open. And that tooth looked pretty bad too.

JJ got himself all wound up about going to the doctor. I think he was better when I told him they wouldn't give him a shot. JJ was very upset, and poor Cari, who had no idea what was going on, kept rubbing his back and head and saying "It's ok JJ". She was very worried about her big brother. Aunt Barb met us there to take Cari home for us, as we had no idea how long we would be there....it was already 8:30 by now. They saw JJ for the initial check in stuff, then we waited a little more. All in all, it wasn't a very busy night in the ER thank goodness, because we didnt' have to wait too long in the waiting room. We did wait for probably an hour while they numbed his lip up though.....and he did great. He was fascinated by the process, and wanted to know what was happening at all times. He politely asked if they would mind showing him his stitches after he was done. And when he was asked if he wanted a sticker, he said "yes please". ;o) Polite even in the face of drama and trauma! LOL The 2 stitches weren't bad at all. As per his usual, the anticipation was far worse than the actual event.

So, this morning, he visited the dentist with daddy, and then called me later. We were lucky his dentist office had an opening. They are a pediatric dentist, which is why I like them. I am glad there was a spot. The appt was at 8:30 and I got the call from Jim at 8:50 that he was done and they pulled the tooth. Then, JJ called me later, and told me that they pulled his tooth, and they gave it to him in a special package. So, I think the tooth fairy needs to visit the bank, because this tooth is special, being not only the first, but with all the drama going along with it. No worries, I am NOT setting a precident that will bit us later, but thinking that a gold $1 coin would be a nice touch. Followed by a disclaimer not to expect the tooth fairy to be as generous with the rest of his teeth.