Bloody Mess

You never know what a day can bring. Every day starts out new, full of possibilities. Good and bad. We've had a lot of good days lately. Dare I say a string of very very good days. The kind of days that make you relish in young parenthood and the joy of toddlers and preschoolers. The kind of days that seduce you into thinking you've turned the corner on 'life with 3 kids under 5.'

There has been much that has made me laugh lately too. Let me share my favorite moment with you. A few days ago I was encouraging the kids to use the new superhero capes they got for Christmas. I put one on each of them and one on myself. Their interest was short lived, and the morning moved on. I decided that it was a good morning to rake leaves in the yard, and then proceeded to take out the garbage. Alone. A man walked by as I was doing my chores and stared at me oddly. I thought it was strange but, whatever. Later, as I took my sweatshirt off inside, I felt it catch on something as I tugged it off. The cape. The super hero cape. I was wearing it outside. My insides filled with laughter. I can only imagine what that guy thought. Hopefully it brought him an inside laugh too.

There have also been moments of panic recently. Bloody messes. Two episodes happened back to back. One morning we decided to brave the cold and head over to the neighborhood park. The boys wanted to ride their bikes, which is a bit hairy, but they're really competent and know to stop at intersections. I pushed Bereket in the stroller. The boys love to ride their bikes around the park, and this morning was no different. There are two playgrounds and a big soccer field at the park. The park was dead. It was freezing. Bereket and I were playing at one playground as the boys rode their bikes to the other playground. Ashen zoomed back and after a minute I asked where Torin was. "Over at the other park," he said. I could not see him, so I yelled for him. A second later I heard him screaming. I raced over to where his screams came from and I saw him running toward me, his shirt stained with blood and his chin gushing. Oh, Lord. My mind raced. How deep? What do I do? There is no one around. My neighbor isn't home. Should I call 911? How am I going to get all these kids home? Ashen is very calm under pressure. In fact, he thrives under pressure. His most compassionate side beams when things are at their worst. He calmly told me that he would push Bereket in the stroller, so I could carry Torin. We decided to ditch the bikes in the bushes and come back for them later, after Torin's wound was tended to. As I carried Torin out of the park, his head resting on my shoulder, Ashen said from behind, "Don't worry, Torin. Mom, Dad, Bereket and I are going to take care of you. You'll be okay." It was a proud moment for me. There are a few things that are really important to me in parenting, and at the top of the list is raising compassionate, kind children. Oh, Torin's cut was fine. It's healing nicely. Crisis averted, and the bikes were retrieved.

The next day (or maybe it was even the same day), we were having a dance party as we often do. The boys were really moving to Will.i.am's "It's a New Day" and suddenly, there was a thud and both the boys were crying. Ashen had knocked his teeth into Torin's very hard head. His front two teeth were bleeding at the gums and one tooth was very loose. Their dentist closed their offices for 3 weeks for the holidays, so I decided that the best plan was to do nothing. No hard foods, of course, but otherwise what is there to do? Worst case scenario, he has no front teeth for a couple years. It could be worse. At least he has more teeth coming, right? Well, another good ending. The tooth is healing well and he says it feels normal again. Phew.

Every day is full of possibilities.