"Mom, I hurt myself."

Nothing will stop you in your tracks like the sight of your child bleeding.

Yesterday, I had called my friend Brandie and told her I'd come over and help her get some clothes washed and dinner made & allow her to get a shower. I was leaving about 1:00, and Greg reminds me we are supposed to go to a birthday party at his office at 2:00 (free awesome food). So, okay, I'll go a little later than planned. I ran out for a quick errand, then came home to get ready. It was nearly 2:00, and I asked Gregory to put on a shirt from his closet (his *nicer* casual shirts). I was in the bathroom when I heard him say, "Mom, I hurt myself." I have NEVER heard that before. I go into his room and he has his hand to the side of his neck and there's blood just pouring down his hand and neck. I thought he'd stabbed himself in the neck with something. My first words were to Greg; "we may need to go to the ER." I have NEVER said that before. I asked, and he said he'd slipped on a blanket and hit his head on the doorjamb.

I got him into the bathroom and started cleaning him up to find the wound. It looked very small, but I realized I'd have to cut some hair to get to it. As I began to cut, I saw it was bigger than I originally thought (but not huge). The scissors weren't helping much, so I got Greg's clippers out. Gregory claimed to be in no pain, but it was awful (for me) to be using that machine so close to his open wound. It stopped bleeding pretty quickly and I decided it could be closed with butterfly strips. I found the ones I had, but they were so old... So off I go to get new strips. When I got back he was still doing well, playing the video game rental that he got in the mail. Back in the bathroom again, I cleaned up the little bit of blood that had dried on it, put Neosporin on it, and put 2 butterfly strips on it.



Not much later, the strips were beginning to fall off and Greg said it really needed to be shaved with a razor. And I thought using the clippers was disturbing! I never want to have to shave around a wound again! That was traumatic (for me!). Still through it all, he complained of no pain. He was a little mad about the blanket that made him slip (I do feel responsible for that. All of the blankets and sleeping bags from the slumber party are piled in the corner by his closet. It's a corner I don't see unless I am in his room, so I just don't think of it). And he was a bit concerned about how his hair would look. After the fact, he wanted me to shave the other side to match. My first reaction was "No", but if he asks again, I'll do it. It's his hair.

Thankfully, it's the back of his head, on the left side. He never saw me cutting, and the faces I was making while doing it. And it really won't show. There's enough hair left over it to cover the gap. He thought I was crazy for taking a picture, but he is a bit proud of his war wound.



He's in his room, yelling at the video game. All is well.
:)