So, in the middle of the post below (which may look cohesive to you), two little girls whom I shall refer to as Chaos and Crash for the sake of this story, came careening around the corner. The impact was so strong I'm not sure if I felt it or heard it or both, but Crash's face collided with the corner of the wall, as she was being chased at break-neck speed by Chaos.
That particular kind of scream can take a mother from comatose to a cheetah-beating sprint in one instant. Running, screaming, bleeding combined and froze into the picture of Crash kneeling on the floor with that dark-red-this-means-serious-business kind of blood dripping off her face and pooling beneath her. Chaos stood frozen, white, petrified. My new yellow sweater; her bright red blood. (It really stirred up old memories of my baby brother's cracked forehead bleeding all over my Mom's yellow coat as they raced out the door to the hospital. I don't know how long it took me sort out that situation from my own.)
My pulse was racing, eyes wide open, brain flipping through possiblities and solutions faster than I could keep up. I grabbed Crash off the floor, raced to the kitchen counter, swept the week's junk mail onto the floor, and laid her down, dreading what I would discover, forgetting how much I hated blood.
The wet papertowel revealed a badly split lip, but nothing that required a visit to the hospital. I forced my pulse to slow as I realized that my expression was reflecting in Crash's eyes and she needed me to be calm. I heard the quiet, reassuring words that my Mom used to say, and realized that they were coming from me. Finally I began to believe them, and so did she.
We cleaned her up, wiped up the floor, found the ice pack, and sat on the couch together, coaxing Chaos out of her self-imposed exile. Now, both are in bed for naps (they actually didn't argue much for once), and I am still not quite sure I could time-line what actually happened. All I know is that I couldn't have moved faster if the house had been on fire. I think I might need a nap, too.
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1 comment:
Crash and Chaos are such good names, I may never use their Christian names again. Perfect descriptions, sister. I can't even imagine how you did that--how you calmed down and managed to bring them from the point of hyper-insanity to sleep. Well done. You get all the Mommy points for today (actually for the month).
Hope to see you soon. Pray for cheap tickets.
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