The Boy in the Bubble Wrap

I'm officially wrapping my child in bubble wrap and keeping him locked in his room. There is just too much danger out there - speeding cars, toys made in China, child predators, coffee tables.

Peanut somehow slipped while banging his drumstick against the coffee table (something we do several times a day) and hit his mouth on the way down. The blood was dark and immediate. He rebounded relatively quickly, but he split that little thing that connects your upper lip to your gum on the inside. The pediatrician took a look and all is well ($15 co-pay, $4 parking fee, 2 minute doctor's visit, mommy's piece of mind...priceless), but I'm still recovering nearly 24 hours later.

I didn't handle the situation well at all. Oh, sure, I was at his side in a heartbeat, paper towel in his mouth to stop the bleeding from going down his throat, trying to get ice on it, murmuring reassuring words and rocking him gently...while I was balling like a child myself. I called the hubby once I knew peanut was not seriously hurt and he said all the right things ("I'm sure he's fine", "Why don't you call the pediatrician's office to be sure"...), but what I really wanted was for him to ditch work and come straight home to take care of it, okay, take care of me. Even at the pediatrician's office this morning, the doc cuddled peanut when really I wanted to ask him to give me a hug instead!

If I'm this much of a wreck now, what happens when he really starts hurting himself at football practice, at camp, on the playground, whatever? Although, I suppose wrapping him in bubble wrap isn't realistic - he'd probably get a rash or the hubby and I would have too much fun popping it. Plus, he's apparently already at risk from the bottles I gave him. And to think I remember learning to ride a bike without a helmet, roller skating down big cement hills with no knee pads and playing for hours in the woods behind our house. It's amazing I survived!

I guess the moral is to just let kids be kids. They're gonna get hurt. I can't wrap him in bubble wrap...

...but I could wrap the coffee table in it!