My Day

[przed]

I have a feeling I'm not going to be making my pledged word count. On account of the day we've just had.

Our plan was to spend the late morning and afternoon shopping for camping equipment and possibly even the barbeque we've been promising ourselves for, oh, ten years now. So we headed off to Mountain Equipment Co-op for the first leg of the trip. We found Ros' first sleeping bag (she was very excited and wanted to sleep in it immediately) and a new swimsuit for her. We also decided the lovely though their four hundred dollar tent was, we were probably going to be fine with the two hundred dollar tent at Canadian Tire. ( A note to non-Canadians: Canadian Tire isn't really a tire store. It's more like a tire, automotive, hardware, sporting goods, housewares, whatever-else-they-decide-they-can-find-room-for store.)

By this time it's after noon, there's a hot dog stand outside, so we all decide hot dogs would be groovy before heading off on the next leg of our epic shopping journey. There is exactly one bench outside the store, and we manage to score it. The bench is right beside the door to the store.

Ros has a couple of bites of her hotdog, then turns to me and says "Look! I can touch the door." I have a conversation with her about how she shouldn't touch the door, and she could get her fingers caught in it, and this is a safety thing and mommy is very serious about safety things, right? Ros agrees, and I figure we've dodged a bullet.

Two minutes later I turn away for a second, then hear the most awful scream I have ever heard.

Of course Ros tried to touch the door again, and of course she got her fingers caught in the door. The big, honking, metal door that has now closed on her fingers. And did I mention it's the exit door, and there's no handle on the outside, and I can't get the damned thing open. So I hold her hand so she doesn't pull on it and make it worse, and the Sweetie goes into superhero mode, runs in the in door, and pushes the out door open so we can pull her fingers out.

Her fingers are still there, if squashed, and she can move them, but Ros is understandably upset. I'm trying to keep calm and comfort her, but am FREAKING OUT. The Sweetie goes to see if the MEC people have ice, and emerges a few minutes later with an ice pack. Ros continues to be hysterical.

Now the thing with Ros is, when she gets hurt, she'll cry for a little bit, then she'll calm down, and then she's fine. This time, she was getting more and more hysterical. So we decide to go to Sick Kids hospital, which is a few minutes away, and she gets even more hysterical. She insists she doesn't need to go to the hospital and it doesn't really hurt, and can we please just go home. Yeah, that's not happening.

We go to Sick Kids' Emergency. Ros is still upset. They triage us and send us to Urgent Care, which we swiftly dub "Not-So-Urgent Care", which means we're there a while, but at least it means that it really isn't an emergency and Ros is going to be fine. And over the next two and a bit hours, Ros does indeed calm down, and starts wandering around, checking things out like her normal self.

By the time we get called, she's even beginning to use the hand with the two squashed fingers, though gingerly. The doctor and the medic (a lovely dude on rotation from the Army) check her fingers thoroughly for bone and tissue damage, show us how to splint the fingers if they're too painful, tell us what warning signs mean we need to get her back to her doctor, and send us on our way.

By this time, it's after 5. We make a flying run to get the tent from Canadian Tire. (Ros gets to ride in the rocket ship shopping cart, so she's good.) Then we let Ros decide what we're doing for dinner, which of course means The Beacher Cafe and a grilled cheese sandwich with french fries and chocolate milk.

We got her ready for bed, she crashed pretty much immediately--physical trauma and no nap will do that--and now I'm trying not to have flashbacks of the sight of her fingers stuck in that damned door. (The Sweetie luckily wasn't as close, didn't see it, and doesn't have that particular memory to deal with.)

So, I'm doing a load of laundry, try to draft a coherent response to the Pros Big Bang questions that have come up, and then I may poke away at the story, but I'm pretty much thinking I'm not going to get new words written.

Comments

[ancastar.livejournal.com]

Oh, dear God! I'm so sorry! Poor Ros. That would freak me out too.

[przed.livejournal.com]

It was freaky. But Ros is pretty good today, if complaining that her fingers hurt.

I'm thinking a G&T with dinner tonight would not go amiss.

[gblvr.livejournal.com]

Eeesh. I hated it when stuff like that happened to my kids. ::smishes to you all::

[przed.livejournal.com]

I have a new appreciation of what my mom went through when I did this sort of thing.

BTW, a very belated happy birthday! I totally meant to create a card for you, but the working mom thing combined with the Big Bang thing conspired to suck up all my time. (I am in awe of you running a BB in a much larger fandom.)

[msmoat.livejournal.com]

Well of course you are not going to get anything written on the story! You need to chill, relax, apply comfort episodes of whatever floats your boat. Yikes!

I'm so glad Ros is fine, essentially. And I think all three of you were Super Heroes in your own way.

::hugs::

Parenting will not actually kill you, but it does come close!

[przed.livejournal.com]

Application of comfort episodes sounds a wonderful idea.

Ros is doing much better, and I'm not having quite so many flashbacks to The Horror.

[sarren.livejournal.com]

Poor Ros. And poor you. Glad she's okay!!!!

[przed.livejournal.com]

She's definitely doing better. As are we all.

[draycevixen.livejournal.com]

Bloody hell petal, I'm just so happy that Ros is all right. *hugs you* ♥

I can only imagine how scary that must be, particularly given how very young she still is but in this case her age may well have worked in her favour in terms of not breaking anything.

I hope you can relax successfully and that Ros has continued to do well. ♥

[przed.livejournal.com]

I'm sure the fact that at this age kids' bones are pretty much rubber prevented this from being really horrific. I'm just happy it's all turned out fine.

She was mostly happy this morning, so unless the fingers swell up more, or she loses the nails, I think we're over the worst of it.

Of course, I think the grey streak in my hair got bigger overnight. And I'm only partly kidding.

[krisserci5.livejournal.com]

Well, at least she's okay. . . .mom's are supposed to be the stressed one :)

You were so the mom today!!

[przed.livejournal.com]

Stressed. Yep, I managed that part all right. And hopefully hid it successfully from the Ros.

[heliophile-oxon.livejournal.com]

Some of my fondest memories ... NOT .... are of waiting to be seen in A&E with one or the other of the zoics. I sympathise! Thank goodness she's OK - now all you have to do is grow back the non-white hair you had before .... *g*

Glad she wasn't damaged, and I hope she never does it again {{}}

[przed.livejournal.com]

I think the grey streak in my hair has gotten a bit more pronounced overnight. But otherwise we're all doing well this morning.

[morgandawn.livejournal.com]

gentle hugs to both of you (well to all three).

[przed.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Hugs back.

[callistosh65.livejournal.com]

Good grief, that is plenty of stress for one weekend, right?? I'm glad Ros is okay. And the Sweetie has this superhero thing down, doesn't he?

[przed.livejournal.com]

The Sweetie is epic in his superhero-ness.

[nakeisha.livejournal.com]

Oh, how awful for you.

Poor Ros and poor you having to see it all.

*Hugs and good vibes*

[przed.livejournal.com]

Ros was reasonably cheerful this morning, and I'm getting over the flashbacks, but it wasn't fun.

*hugs back*

[windrain10.livejournal.com]

I'm glad it ended as well as it did in that w/ nothing broken, but it wasn't the best way to spend a Sun afternoon. Here's to a stress-free upcoming week for all three of you!

[przed.livejournal.com]

It wasn't quite what we had planned for our Sunday, but at least everyone is recovering nicely. And we're off for a nice cottage weekend on Friday, so that will be lovely for us all.

[miwahni.livejournal.com]

I'd have been near-hysterical too... so glad that Ros is okay now.

[przed.livejournal.com]

The Sweetie and I are relieved, and Ros seems much better today.

[kortirion.livejournal.com]

MMmm - very glad to hear that Ros is ok, kids doing things is always traumatic, as much for you as for them, if not more - but I wouldn't let her off the hook. A reminder in future of 'look what happened to your fingers last time' makes clear that when Mommy says 'no, it's dangerous, don't touch' Mommy really does mean it!

[przed.livejournal.com]

Oh, the next time I say "this is a safety thing" it's definitely going to be followed up by "remember the time you got your fingers stuck in the door." Fingers crossed that she won't ignore mommy on the big things anymore.

[sooguy.livejournal.com]

Wow, that was way more traumatic than Don managed to make sound in his tweet and Facebook update.

Can you just imagine the lectures Ros is going to give her own kids some day about safety around doors?

Glad she is okay. Hope you and Don can get over the trauma.

[przed.livejournal.com]

He was less traumatized than me. He didn't actually see her fingers caught in the door.

Given her age, I wonder if Ros is even going to remember this one. Not that we're going to let her forget it.

[saintvic.livejournal.com]

I am so glad Ros is/is going to be fine. That must have been very scary. *hugs you*

[przed.livejournal.com]

It was definitely scary. But we're all getting over it, and her fingers seem to be fine. *hugs back*

[norfolkdumpling.livejournal.com]

Crikey! That sounds horrible - poor Ros, and poor you!

I'm glad it all turned out essentially OK, but sorry that you had so much worry. I'm sure she won't remember it as at all traumatic (my brother cut his head wide open on a broken plant pot at that age and has no recollection of the rivers of blood on the patio, only remembers it as being cool to have purple stitches in his head at nursery school!) but I can quite understand you being totally freaked out by it. *hugs*

[przed.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure she won't remember it as being that bad, if she remembers it at all. (Of course, we're not going to let her forget it. *g*)

I can just imagine your brother thinking the purple stitches were cool. (Heck, I'd think they were cool.) And the rest of your horrified by the rivers of blood. Head wounds always do bleed horrendously.

[sc-fossil.livejournal.com]

I'm so happy Ros is okay!