Those good ol' kid days... OUCH!!!

So, I was discussing with some co-workers this morning the dangers of having a little boy vs. a little girl... and realized as I was about to say this that gender DOES NOT MATTER! My mom got hurt many times while growing up due to tiny bones... which became many broken bones through the years. My hubby hurt himself a lot growing up as well, usually in ways that I would fear... finger stuck in a locked car door, hand/arm put through a glass door, leg broken as a small child and being put in almost a whole body cast...etc. During these thoughts I began to play back my childhood falls, scrapes, bruises... and realized I had some super OUCH! moments of my own.

Leaving me Speechless
I don't remember much of this one, but my mom remembers walking upstairs with me, hand in hand, as I was being potty trained with only one, second story, bathroom. One of us lost our footing and we went tumbling backwards. Somehow I got my teeth jammed into my lip and had to go to the emergency room. I do remember sitting on a table in the hospital... and that is about the extent of that memory. Everything turned out ok, teeth still in my mouth and straight, still had my lip attached to my face, thumbs up.

Hello Puppy
This one was more of a long term psychological injury than it was physical. I was eleven and visiting my grandparents for the summer as I always did. I had always been an animal person... LOVED THEM ALL!!! I was over at my best friend's house during a visit from her Aunt and pup. The dog must have been over stimulated by all the people and weather and overall change in it's daily life because I remember being kind of nervous of it from the beginning. It didn't help that he tried to take a chunk out of my friend's super awesome dog Dasher who wouldn't hurt a fly. As we walked her Aunt and pup out to their car at the end of her visit, the dog was in the line up of good byes and I'm not sure he knew his manners cause as I reached out my arm to pet him, he jumped up on me. He got my wrist in his mouth and bit down, got me with one paw scratching the top of my lip, and sucker punched me with the other paw across my forehead. In the end the physical damage wasn't too bad, I was so scared of getting stitches that the doctor decided I could get away without them (although I don't think that was wise of the lazy doctor to do since I have an eye shaped scar still on my wrist), but boy was I terrified of almost all dogs for years after that. I remember crying in a grocery store one time because an animal rescue group had brought in some retired gray hound racing dogs for everyone to see and they were blocking the my exit!

Teeter Totter Mishap
Never trust someone that is bigger than you on the other end of a teeter totter! I'm not sure how old I was, probably about nine or ten maybe? I was playing on a teeter totter, which I must say isn't a very safe playground invention, and someone who WAS NOT a friend was sitting on the other end. There were tires in the ground under each seat so the seat didn't hit the ground when it came down, but my teeter partner realized that if she lifted her legs when coming down, the seat would bounce a little, which then bounced me on the other end... in the air! I kept pleading with her to let me off or to stop bouncing me cause I was going to fall off, she was bouncing me pretty high at that point and I thought I was going to fly forward off the seat, but she didn't stop. I at one point started to fall off... sideways, and as I was starting to slide off the side, she kept "bouncing" which made me jerk a bit and slide harder... by the time I got off the teeter totter I was in tears. I jumped onto my bike trying desperately trying to balance myself on the bike seat using my tailbone while keeping my feet and other "parts" in the air. I got to my baby sitters house and... well... how do you explain a damaged "hooha" when you are that age? They gave me some pop and sat with me until my mom picked me up. The worst part of that injury was our trip to Ohio, on a plane, THAT NIGHT! I didn't want to eat or drink anything our whole trip for fear of having to use the bathroom... and spent the whole visit in bed watching movies with pillows between my legs! That is one experience that is still all too clear for me... OW!!!!

Watch Out For That Tree!
Sixth Grade... It was called Outdoor Ed... in the dead of winter... great idea guys!!! Three days and two nights were spent at an outdoor lodge type place. For the most part it was pretty fun. There were a good amount of things to do, but my fun only lasted half the trip. One of the activities, of course, was sledding! They had this awesome inner-tube with fabric over the center so you, or two, could lay in the center of it and literally glide down the snowy hill as fast as possible. Well, me and my two friends didn't want to separate, so we decided that our friend Beth could lay over me and Lauren since we were the same size and height, and Beth was super tiny and short. We were soooo excited. Who knew that with more weight... you go faster... We sped down that hill and used the stopping barricade as a ramp and kept on going. I saw that we were headed straight for a tree and I tried to duck my head to the side as to avoid hitting the tree head on... literally. We did hit the tree, and I smacked my head right behind my left ear. Beth was hurt the most initially, and Lauren and I helped her walk back up the hill. Later though, I was not doing well. We had to hike back and forth over this hill through the woods to get to the cafeteria for meals, and by dinner time I couldn't see in the dark and my head was killing me. Everyone was getting annoyed that I was holding onto them so tightly trying to get them to help me along the way. I ate a little at dinner... and then line dancing lessons were held after that which I laid on the floor in a ball during. Eventually one of the teachers had me get up and they called my mom. I begged her, sobbing, to come get me... lol... two hour drive in the middle of the night... didn't happen despite my mild concussion. I was given some pop and headache pills and then driven over to another building where all the groups were doing their "last night skits". Beth was pretty upset with me because we were supposed to fall down dead together in ours, and she had to fall to her death all alone... as I sat at a table falling asleep on my arm... being jerked awake every five minutes by a teacher or parent. The next day was the day we got to go home... YAY... but not before a huge game of capture the flag under clear sunny skies... which gave the snow a lovely glowy effect... awesome situation when you feel like your head is splitting in the middle.

Those are the major ones that I can remember right now... but I would just like to ask, what is it with adults giving kids pop when they get hurt??? Hmmm...