A Nursery Rhyme

Last week was a fairy tale. This week will be a nursery rhyme.

This little piggy went to market.
This little piggy stayed home.
This little piggy had roast beef.
And this little piggy

ALMOST GAVE HIS MAMA A HEART ATTACK.

Let me explain.

It was a crazy week as we were wrapping up our MOPS year. I have been involved in a MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) group for several years and served as the coordinator this past year. It was tons of fun but also a lot of work. As we were setting up for the last meeting, a friend asked me how things were going. "Everything is good right now," I told her. "It seems that our family is in a calm and peaceful season of life and things are nice."

We finished our last meeting and I decided to prepare a good dinner to celebrate. I had pulled a few late-nighters earlier in the week and felt my hubby and I hadn't talked much due to our crazy schedules. So I made meatloaf, green beans, potatoes (one of my hubby's favorite meals), and we sat down to a nice dinner. We finished eating and let the kids get up from the table while we talked. Across the room, I saw Caleb reach for a large wrought iron plant stand. I yelled but it was too late, and the stand toppled onto Caleb. He began screaming but I expected it to just be a good bump on the noggin. When Bob scooped him up, I noticed his sock was bloody. As I pulled off the sock, I almost passed out. His 4th little piggy was barely hanging on. There was no questioning whether we would need to go to the ER. We grabbed some milk for Caleb and jumped into the car.

In what was simply a freak accident, it appears that the bottom ring of the stand was just the right height and fell at just the right angle onto the end of his little toe and nearly cut it off.

The experience in the ER was pretty terrible. It took 2 grown men to hold Caleb down while they nummed his foot and sewed his toe back together. They kept remarking how strong little Caleb was, which made his daddy proud!

We do not know the extent of the damage. I have not attempted to remove the bandaging yet as it took them quite a while to wrap such a tiny toe. But we will see a specialist this week and let him dictate the next move.

Our sweet Caleb is a trooper. He screamed his little lungs out during the process, but I was finally able to distract him with the ABC's. And as we walked out of the ER, he told everyone "Bye Bye" and waved. I think he stole a few hearts. It only took an hour the next morning for him to figure out how to waddle around. He hasn't missed a beat, and you would not even know anything was wrong underneath his socks. And thank goodness for those ugly crocs! He's still able to wear those over his bulky bandage so he can play outside a little.

I know that ER visits are routine parts of the parenting process. But my first experience as a mama in the ER was not something I would ever want to repeat; neither would I classify it as routine. So I would be lying to say that those memories and thoughts weren't running through my mind during my second visit to the ER while I was holding my little Caleb. But it also gave me perspective and I thanked the Lord for the small things -- allowing my husband to be home at the time, giving us wisdom on which hospital to drive to, protecting Eveley's heart through it all, and even letting it be a day when I had actually taken a shower and fixed my hair. :) But especially getting to take my little banged up boy home with me that night.

Now back to the calm and peaceful season, right?