Bruise Brother, originally uploaded by cheryl.
Some of us have trouble paying attention, clearly.
Xander was busy doing what he always does at the local park, running along different points of the sidewalk between signs - you know, where he can look at letters. It's his favorite past time, once the initial swinging and sliding are out of the way.
This time, as he ran he was so intent on the next sign that he didn't bother to watch where he was going. And he tripped. Over the dog leash. With the dog still attached. And went face down on the sidewalk.
He caught himself, mostly, with his hands and knees. There were two small scrapes, one on top of each knee. His hands took the worst of it, though they weren't really scratched, just red from impact. But his head had a little too much momentum, and it brushed the sidewalk, too.
So now he looks like a little bruiser. Scrapes on the corner of his mouth, the side of his nose, and a big one on the top of his forehead.
It's hard to be him.
He cried for a minute, making the other mom (who was there with her two kids and the dog, which was tied up to a park bench) feel horrible. She practically dropped her child in her haste to run over to where he fell. But I picked him up and let him scream for a minute (which is his way, whether it really hurts or not).
Then I did what any parent would do. I offered him a sucker.
He screamed a little more, then sniffled, and said, "Sucker?"
And that was the end of it. He fingered the scrapes, probably more of a texture issue than anything, but never complained about them again.
All better. Suckers are good that way.