Thursday, August 06, 2009

Hard Knocks

It has been a long two weeks. Swimming lessons finally ended today and "none too soon," I say. We have been getting late lunches and naps (or no naps) and missing out on a lot of the afternoon. It has definitely taken its toll on me and the kids.

Today, we got a mini break between swimming and dentist appointments (4 kids - no cavities, I'm happy to report). After the dentist, we went to the fabric store because I wanted to catch the pattern sale and see what else was irresistible.

I went to a lot of fabric stores with my mom when I was a kid. I remember how BORING it was and how LONG we'd be there. It's finally time to take it out on a new generation. We were there over an hour. (Sorry guys. I didn't think it would take that long.) The dentist gives out balloons. Three balloons ended up on the ceiling of the store, two got rescued. I'm sure the fabric store employees were glad to see us and our 4 surviving balloons leave.

By the time we left the fabric store, it was dinner time. We met Chad at a Subway on the way home. The meal went fine, especially considering that we had 5 kids who had been out and about most of the day. The older kids had fun in the back corner of the store while the two younger ones finished up. As it was time to leave, the boys went out the door. Leah prepared to follow.

The restaurant has double doors - and exterior and interior...probably to keep bugs out, though the interior door was propped open. The doors are connected by the masonry wall of the building and a glass wall on the opposite side (forming the "hallway" between doors). Have I completely lost you? We were able to enter without any difficulty. As Leah made a plan in her mind for exiting the building, a mental connection was lost and she forgot the exact path she used coming in. I never saw the impact, but heard it and the resulting screaming. She'd run full speed (a good 20 feet) right into the glass wall, instead of going around it and through the door. She ended up on the floor. It left a nice big smudge where her cheek bone collided. That was a really clean glass wall.

Most mothers would probably be concerned for their child. I immediately looked for blood and then told Chad to get her out of the restaurant. It was just one more chink in my armor. I am done being a mother this summer! I finished cleaning up the table and headed for the door. I did have to shout at the boys who returned to the scene of the accident to gleefully reenact it. Now there are more smudges on the glass. Can we please not work the frazzled mother into a frenzy? It will be a while before we go back to a restaurant. And yes, I was trying not to laugh out loud after she went screaming outside. It must have been something to see. (I do feel sorry that she got hurt, but I'm having a hard time being really sympathetic.)

We'll see if she's got a black eye or other bruising in the morning. I'll be sure to post a picture if she does. She's lucky she didn't break the window (I'm glad for strong, thick safety glass) or her nose!

1 comment:

  1. LOL!! it's a shame you didn't have a video camer a rolling or you could have won some money! So did she end up with a black eye from it?

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