Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Curious Graham and the Irresponsible Mother

We had an interesting afternoon today. It started out innocently enough when I decided to clean up the books in Graham's room. While I was preoccupied, Graham poked his nightlight until he knocked the cover off, then hit it one more time and broke the filament so it wouldn't turn on. Annoyed, I unplugged the nightlight and put it out of reach, then walked over to put the last two books on the shelf. Suddenly I heard a POP! and the lights went out and Graham started crying. He had brought the keys to our shed upstairs with him and stuck one of them in the electrical outlet, tripping the breaker.

He only cried for about 10 seconds, but his hand had black smudges all over it and what looked like a small burn near his thumb. The key was partially blackened as well.





I called Will and the doctor, who said I should take him to the ER immediately for an evaluation. I'm sure it won't be our last visit, and I hope they all go as quickly as this one did. Everything was traumatic for Graham, though--getting his temperature taken, the doctor looking at his hand (which I'm convinced wasn't even hurting at this point), listening to his heartbeat, and the coup de grace, the id bracelet they affixed to his ankle. Then the doctor chided me for not having plastic covers in the outlets (which we have in EVERY SINGLE ONE) and told me to be mindful of his fair skin in the sun (um, thanks for that advice in November).

He seems to be fine now, as he spent a good part of the evening dancing in the living room.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Things like this happen and can you imagine what the ER Dr thought with you being 8 months pregnant. Sometimes they can make you feel like an unfit parent or like you don't have a brain in your head. Just to let you know, I think you are doing a great job.

Valerie said...

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Gwen. :) Guess we'll see how it goes with 3... I really may not have a brain in my head after awhile.

Gwenna said...

Evan had his first ER visit when he was about 8 months old thanks to his big sister. He was fine but it was still scary! Glad Graham was ok too. Hang in there! It does get easier.

Julie Davison said...

WOW! Clever kid to go get the keys. I bet you have 10 new gray hairs now! Hang in there -- you're doing a great job. Not every day will be perfect.

...which is now mostly about the kids.