Rough & Tumble Boys

The Damage, originally uploaded by cheryl.

Do you remember last spring, when Sawyer did this?

Sawyer has always been our cautious, somewhat hesitant child. I did not expect him to be the first to visit the emergency room, to need stitches or staples or whatever. But first he was. He and his brothers were playing in Xander’s bedroom, and the back of his head met the sharp corner of the chest of drawers. I had to pile all three boys into my truck and drive them to the urgent treatment center. The day ended with random acts of kindness from strangers, a transfer to another urgent treatment center that could actually do staples (not stitches, which the doctor felt would be better on a head injury) and staples in the back of my cautious child’s head.

Now Xander, on the other hand, is the opposite of cautious. He is full of energy and drama, just like his big brother. He is also fearless, and like his twin brother, has a high threshold for pain (which makes him even more fearless, if that’s possible). He is the one I fully expected to take the emergency room for stitches and staples and broken bones. You can’t bounce and climb and jump your way through life the way he does without a few scratches and bumps. He is constantly covered in head to toe bruises that cannot be explained beyond his rough and tumble personality. (Flinging yourself down on the floor with every mild outrage might have something to do with it, too).

That would be the back of Xander's head you see in the photo, with staples hidden under his long hair. Friday was his turn.

Josh was at home with the boys, awaiting the arrival of their two cousins who would be spending the night with them. I had just left for work. Xander was climbing in the play room, as usual. He slipped, and cut a deep gash into the back of his head. Clearly, not to be outdone by his brother, he was brought to the emergency room where he, too, received staples in the back of his head.

Six, in fact. And he wins, because he needed more than Sawyer's three last spring. Xander very much likes to win, so someday this will make him very happy.

Xander did as well as could be expected. He cried when they tried to examine him. He was really put out with Mommy that she only stepped away from her job (at the hospital) for a little while to visit and then had to go back to work. He did not like having the bandage adjusted or the anesthesia applied. And he really, really did not like the staples being put in the back of his head.

But Grammy (who was also working at the hospital, in the emergency room, as a matter of fact) made him a latex glove balloon, which he loved. It almost made up for the other bad things. And he got to come up and visit Mommy on the floor where she works, and she has suckers in her department, so that made him pretty happy, too. He was again pissed to leave Mommy, but managed just fine when he saw the elevator again.

And that was his adventure.

I really hope Connor is not next. Because apparently my boys have a little competition going on to see who can injure themselves the worst. My cautious child went first (very likely pushed or assisted by one of his more rambunctious brothers). My mischievous child was next. And that only leaves the first born.

Although you shouldn't rule out the other two either. Because even though you would think they have learned their lesson, that's clearly not the case. Our most recent bruiser was back to climbing the very same night he came home from the ER, bloody tee shirt, bandaged head and all. Clearly he learned a lot from his adventure.

Welcome to life with three rough and tumble little boys.