Our New Year's Bang!!

A new year has begun!! It is a time for setting goals that you hope you will reach better than the ones you set at the beginning of last year. It is a time to clean out the drawers and toy boxes to make room for the new stuff received for Christmas. It is a time to dust off the Thank You cards and hope you get them out before next Christmas.

Seriously, it is a time of renewel to do better, to try harder, to give more, to love more, and to be less offended. I love this time of year. It reminds me that there is a whole year untainted that I can make the best things happen in for others. It is a time to reflect on the growth that has occurred over the last year. It is a time to look at the kids pictures and see how much they've grown. It is a time to renew your love for your spouse, kids, family, and friends.

Spending the first day of the new year in the emergency was not what I expected to be doing. On the evening of January 1st, Charles was playing with his friends Ethan and Ciara. He started to step over his race track and slipped. He hit the corner of the Lego table with his head and immediately started screaming. I grabbed him and he was already starting to bleed. I took him in the bathroom to check him out. He cut his left eyelid just below the brow. The cut bled and bled (as head injuries do). We finally were able to look at the damage and saw that Charles needed stitches. We were watching Ethan and Ciara while their parents were on a date. We debated what to do. I finally loaded up Charles and took him to the emergency room while Gabe waited at home with Michelle and the other children.

We got to the ER and were taken back to the triage room before my insurance card had time to come off the copy maching. The nurse checked Charles out and took all of his vital signs. He was a big boy to answer her questions and let her do her job. She took us back to a room to wait. A nurse came in and talked to us. Then the doctor came in and checked Charles out. He still was answering all the questions, letting them do what they needed to, and not crying. The doctor said they would have to fix his cut. A nurse came in and put some jelly stuff on the cut. It set for about 30 minutes. Then another nurse came in and told Charles to lay down with his head at the foot of the bed. Charles thought this was so funny. The nurse cleaned the cut and the doctor stitched it before Charles could think. Charles was a trooper. He laid still and didn't flinch. Another nurse had been called to help hold Charles down. No one had to hold him down. He laid perfectly still and just held my hand. Both the doctor and nurses said Charles was a wonderful patient. When we got to the car I told Charles he had been the biggest boy ever, especially since he had gotten 2 stitches. He didn't believe me that he had gotten stitches. It took arguing with him for a few minutes before he would believe me. The way they handled the issue in the ER was wonderful. Charles didn't know he had stitches because the word or topic had never been brought to light. They "fixed" his cut and that's all that was said. We are greatful to live close to the hospital and have help on hand any time day or night. It was great to be in and out of the hospital and home two hours after it happened. Our only hope now is that this is not a glance of what is to come over this next year!!