Mama Drama

Last night I had to take Siobhan to the doctor. For a week now she and Pete had been treating an ingrown toenail she had. Pete is the medic in this house. If you want to see me completely fall apart, just present any of my kids with any type of injury. Pete was first a witness to this on our first trip together to California. When Oscar choked on a piece of steak and I stood up at the table screaming at Pete and my dad"Why isn't anyone doing something?" I don't mean to be this way, I just simply cannot function. All time stands still when one of the kids are injured. When Hans was a baby he fell on the same corner of his head several times. Each fall resulting in a goose egg with a split down the center. Each fall meant several nights of staying up to rouse him out of sleep and make sure he was okay. I still check my kids breathing every night. This may continue into high school, I am just that paranoid. Luckily, Pete is accepting of this and is able to keep the kids calm and talk me through it as well. Both of my boys have been under anesthesia to have dental work, both times I held my breath for hours. It's funny because I spent my high school years as a volunteer in the emergency room at the hospital. I had the Friday or Saturday night shift and saw some pretty gruesome things. It's not about the injuries though, it's about the kids. I don't have this problem when I go to the hospital for myself, although my heart breaks a thousand times over when I see a baby at the oncology center.
So, back to the story, last night Siobhan and I went to the doctor. She does not like going to the doctor and had been begging to avoid it. Initially she did really well. I had to fill out several forms and when I got to the parent relationship question, I was surprised. I thought for a minute and put down, very good, an accurate description in my mind. This brought Siobhan down, she could not stop laughing. I had not thought that they didn't already know we are divorced. I'm glad we enjoyed that laugh together because the next 30 minutes were pure hysteria. It only took the doctor a glance and then he advised her they'd have to do a little operation and remove a portion of her toenail. I knew she was going to lose it when she started rubbing her arm, a nervous habit. As soon as he left the room the tears started and then the begging to just leave. She rubbed and pinched her arm so hard that she has several bruises today. They gave her several shots to numb her toe and she rubbed my hand that she was holding all over her face and bit my finger. When they actually did cut the toenail it was so quick and painless that she was stunned into silence, something rare for Siobhan. So they bandaged it with this big toe sock and gave her a really fashionable sandal. I knew what she was thinking and told her if she came home from school with any writing on the toe bandage I will be furious. I was feeling pretty good about my performance, I didn't cry or freak out, I was just there to comfort her and it all went fine. But then, as I was relaying the story to my mom last night, Hans cut his finger when he closed the door on it. THERE WAS BLOOD! Thank God for DR. Peter Lindgren.