Good Sport

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Originally uploaded by knights_writes

http://www.flickr.com/photos/iowah/sets/72157607448617720/

I guess it's a rite of passage, especially (they say) for little boys. Arlo made his first trip to the emergency room on Sunday after losing a fight with the back door at our house. I was coming in from the garage and he was playing behind the door. As I opened the door--ever so slowly and cautiously--he spun around to run down the hall, and ran headlong into the door handle. The result was a small but deepish and rather bloody divot right above his left eye.

We were just about to put the kids down for their naps, so the timing couldn't have been worse. In spite of that--and in spite of the fact that the Mercy ER was busy and we spent TWO HOURS there trying to keep the kiddos entertained and safe--Arlo was a model patient. Yes, he cried when the injury first occurred, and he certainly resisted the hospital trip with the appropriate wailing and thrashing. But once we got there, he was stoic and cooperative, patient and brave. He lay still and silent as they stitched up his forehead--and for her part, Mae was also remarkably agreeable (though squirmy and bored) for a baby who should've been napping instead.

Arlo walked out of there with three stitches and a decidedly boring band-aid. (Shouldn't they keep cool band-aids around the hospital for brave little kids? Come on.)

Knowing Macy's free-wheeling, no-fear attitude, we will surely make a return trip to the ER before she turns four. Because I don't really believe in that "especially for boys" thing I mentioned at the beginning of this post. Between the two of them, Macy is definitely more of a daredevil and a Pusher of Limits. Here's hoping that our future emergencies are as manageable and tolerable as this one turned out to be. Sigh.