Have I mentioned that we’ve had some head trauma around here?

A few weeks ago, the most random thing happened. My 10-year old was sitting on the floor in his room, picking up a treasured football card that had fallen to the ground, and a full-size bowling pin fell off a shelf and whacked him in the back of the head.

I know, random. I told you.

For the record, the bowling pin was a favor from a birthday party years ago. The party was at the bowling alley, obviously, and afterwards, all of the kids signed the pin & he got to bring it home. It seemed like a logical thing to put on his shelf of treasures. Until this happened, that is. Now, of course, it seems like a really stupid, heavy, dangerous object to put on a shelf in a boy’s room. Retrospect provides that kind of perspective for you.

He’s fine, first of all. But initially, he wasn’t doing so hot. He turned gray, wobbled, thought he was going to lose his dinner, and had an extremely difficult time staying awake. We were yelling to try to keep him conscious. Yes, I called 911. Yes, we went to the emergency room. If you’ve ever experienced something like this, you know that there isn’t much they can do. You wait it out and hope for the best.

Unfortunately, he’d been there before. When he was only 2, just a tiny little guy, he ran inside after having tromped through the wet grass with his tennis shoes on. He slipped on our wood entryway floor and hit his head hard. His eyes rolled up, he stopped breathing, and in the midst of my screaming and the chaos I wondered if it was his last day. It was horrible, really horrible. That day, I rode in the ambulance with him, trying to be strong and it changed me. I worry more, even though I know it’s pointless. I worry about accidents because we had one and we got lucky. He’s had lots of happy days since but I’ve never forgotten the terror of that moment.

Last night, he was out in the yard playing touch football. He collided with a friend’s tooth and came home with a 1/2-inch gash in his scalp. My husband was out of town, so I had to take a good look. For the first time in my life, it made me lightheaded. I had to call my 13-year old in and explain that if I passed out, he should get our neighbor right away. (Thanks, Susie and Aaron, for always helping.) Fortunately I came to my senses & didn’t pass out. We called the doctor and I described the accident and wound as best I could. How’s this for gross? Since it was a tooth that caused the damage, there’s a higher risk of infection, so they don’t like to stitch or staple the scalp shut. Let’s just say he looks a little like Head Wound Harry today.

I’ll be very glad when he’s all healed up, and, if I could ask a favor of the universe (Hey God, Could you help me out here?), I would like no more head injuries or gross bloody gashes for a good long time. That would be swell.