May 25, 2004

Far More Important
Posted by Jon Henke

No commentary from me on President Bush's speech last night. I didn't watch it. Not for lack of interest, mind you....I just had more important demands for my attention.

My 2-year old son, Alex, and I were playing on the bed shortly before his bedtime. He was jumping up and down, I was occassionally tackling and tickling him. You know, the usual father/son stuff. Unfortunately, he jumped a bit too far, and absolutely clocked his mouth on the wooden frame of the bed. The blow drove his teeth into his lower lip and created a huge gash, and quite a lot of blood.

There's not much in the world as difficult as seeing your own child bleed.

So, he spent the next hour in a lot of pain, and I spent the next hour doing what Dad can do. Which isn't much. Hold him, tell him he'll be ok, tell him you know it ouches, try to give him ice - when that fails, let him have a bottle; just generally be there and feel terrible.

Over the course of the next couple hours, he progressed from crying, to whimpering, to stoic silence, to tired good-humor. And finally, to bed.

So, if I have nothing to say about President Bush's speech, you'll understand. Last night, The World took a backseat to my world, and all the Iraqs in the world didn't compare to one boys bloody lip.

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Comments

Yikes! Is all okay now?

Posted by: James Joyner at May 25, 2004 07:24 AM

He's still in pain. Woke up a few times in the night, crying...but he's a champ. He'll cope.

Gonna be painful for a few days, though. That's one huge lower lip.

Thanks for asking.

Posted by: Jon Henke at May 25, 2004 07:28 AM

Lip bleeds are the worst. It always looks like your kid is losing gallons of blood per minute. Fortunately, they recover quite quickly from lip wounds.

Hope he's feeling ok today. Lots of ice pops ought to keep the swelling down and make him happy.

Posted by: Michele at May 25, 2004 07:39 AM

Good idea, thanks. He didn't care for ice, but I bet he'd go for a popsicle.

And yes, "gallons" is right. I've got a very red shirt at home that used to be white. I think it's a loss.

Posted by: Jon Henke at May 25, 2004 07:41 AM

Wow, glad both father and son are ok :)

Posted by: shark at May 25, 2004 09:16 AM

I'm so not ready for this.

Hope all's well.

Posted by: Jeff G at May 25, 2004 05:17 PM

No, Jeff, you're not.

On the other hand, nobody ever is. It just sorta plays out and you play along.

Posted by: Jon Henke at May 25, 2004 05:30 PM

Soak the shirt in cold water before washing it. The blood will come out. It's an old female trick... and it works great for us; my kids and husband get frequent nosebleeds from our dry climate.

Posted by: Wacky Hermit at May 25, 2004 06:29 PM