Next time I'll bring my cell phone

So today was interesting.

This morning we ran errands...to Wal-Mart. Ugh. As we pulled into the driveway, Andrew said, "I thought you hated this store, Mom." And I do. But there are just some things that Wal-Mart has that I can't get other places. Like these particular elastics for Lily's hair. Which they did not have. Ugh again.

After Wal-Mart we decided to go to a park because it was so beautiful out. We picked up a shake (at 10 am!) and headed to a beautiful wooded park that we haven't been to all summer. I don't know why...we just haven't. And they were in the process of dumping new mulch cover all over it. So we drove across town again and ended up at the same park we always go to. We parked close by, so I left everything in the car...my diaper bag, my wallet, cell phone,...everything. We were only going to be there for a half-hour or so.

And we got there and Andrew immediately starts chatting it up with this very young looking grandmother who was there with her 4-ish year old grandson. Really chatting it up. As in, after 5 minutes with Andrew, the only thing she didn't know about our family was our social security numbers. Which I'm sure Andrew would have shared if he knew them. I leave her behind to suffer my son's ceaseless conversation because I'm chasing Michael around. Michael recently discovered that he LOVES slides, but he hasn't mastered the technique of sitting at the top. So every slide is a mini-heart attack for me. Lily was off doing whatever Lily does at the park. Poor middle child.

We were there 5 minutes, maybe 10, when I decided to show Mikey a new "short-cut" to the curly slide that he loves. He usually walks all the way to one end, then teeters and swaggers across the top to the other side with the slide. Heart-attacks, people. But right in the middle is a set of monkey bars, that they have recently added a step to. So that the kids can get down and up instead of this huge 3 1/2 foot drop off for the monkey bars. I pop Mikey up the step, grab onto the side rails and playfully fling myself after him. Except that the step was not put there to help people step up, it is in fact to help children reach the first monkey bar...so that first bar was much closer to my head than I realized.

I hit so hard, I instantly couldn't see anything. I gasped and fell back...I think I couldn't see because the pain was so bad I couldn't open my eyes and they were watering anyway. I peer through my squinted eyes to see Mikey racing up the play area toward the slide of death. I am in so much pain, people. I keep waiting for it to kind of subside, like whacks to the head usually do. Or stubbing your toe. You know how the first few seconds are HORRIFIC, but quickly it subsides to a sharp ache or throb? This just kept going. I put my hands up to my face to try and massage it into submission, and my hands came away covered in blood. COVERED. Dripping down my wrists...

Meanwhile, Michael has reached the top of the slide. I just staggered in the direction of that friendly grandmother and yelled, "Please help me."

She looked down and saw me clutching my bleeding nose and yelped. I asked her to please watch my baby while I figured this out. She ran and got Michael (Andrew followed her to keep talking...no sympathy from my own children). Then she ran over and gave me her grandson's mitten to hold up to my nose. I was starting to be able to hold my eyes open at this point, but they were still so watery and streaming. She asked what happened and should she call 9-1-1. Of course, she didn't know that I am just a clumsy accident prone dolt, so she maybe thought I'd started randomly hemorrhaging out my face.

Anyway, I managed to mumble out an explanation. A few minutes later, the bleeding was down to a trickle. I wasn't even sure what I'd hit...turns out it was the top of my head (I found the bump later). Lily hurt herself and came running for help, when she saw me she ran hysterically to the picnic benches. Another mother at the park came up and handed me a few wet wipes, explaining that I had blood all over my chin and cheeks. Scared my own daughter...nice. Andrew was still unaffected...he could have cared less what was going on...he just wanted to talk about the Phillies to this woman. Nice. Michael of course just wanted to go down the curly slide.

After 30 minutes, I packed the kids up in the car and drove home. I pieced together lunch and got Andrew some lunch. I called Jeff to tell him, and suddenly I LOST it. Sobbing, crying, really really upset. Poor guy. He thought I was on death's door or something...but I'd suppressed all these emotions and then unleashed them on him.

See, it hurt. The blood kind of freaked me out. But mostly? I just kept thinking what if we had been the only people at the park? Often I am there alone with the 3 kids. What if THAT had happened. I was horribly unprepared to injure myself and take care of the 3 kids...I didn't even have my cell phone to call an ambulance if need be.

So what have I learned from today?

1) Hitting your head can result in very odd pains...like my upper teeth hurt and my upper lip feels numb, and my nose is sore, and my neck and shoulders feel like they've had whiplash. And of course the top of my head has a knot on it that hurts!

2) I am going to bring my cell phone with me everywhere. Even if we are just out for 5 minutes. Because what if I twist my ankle or get hit in the head with a satellite? At least Andrew should have a phone to call for help.

3) I should teach Andrew how to use my cell phone. And how to call for help.

4) If I had been born during the stone ages, I would have survived for about 5 minutes. I was beaten today by a stationary metal bar. A Saber-tooth cat would have no challenge catching my sorry a*%.