I turned my back for three seconds. (Isn’t that how all tales of woe begin?) Then I heard a thump, and a pained scream.
Karenna had been jumping on the couch, tumbled face-first off the back and landed smack on her brow bone. Within seconds, a goose egg had formed and some slight bruising began to show. We cuddled her, comforted her, checked for signs of concussion and called it a day. She went to bed and woke up looking like THIS:
Her eye was almost completely swollen shut, just a wee slit peeking through.
And then today, it looked like THIS:
Yeah. Someone may as well go ahead and call Child Protective Services, since half the town is probably already waiting to do so.
I think this injury is going to take a loooong time to heal, since it’s still very swollen. Her eyelid is going to experience every shade of the rainbow as the bruising shifts from black, to purple, to blue, to green, to yellow. And I will try my best to not look like the kind of mother who punched her kid in the face, while I field dirty looks from the skeptics.
Did your kid ever get a really awful injury that took a long time to heal and made you feel like the WORST MOM EVER?
I didn’t even have to turn my back for this one. I was walking hand in hand with my little one. I think he was almost 2. One minute we were walking slowly, his hand in mine, and the next second he was face down on the sidewalk. And 3 seconds after that, he was in my arms, wailing. And then he stopped. I looked at him, and it looked like he was going into shock! When we got back home, a few minutes later, I gave him some homeopathic arnica, and he came back to himself (and me) right away. His lip had swollen up on the way home, but with the arnica, and some ice, it went down over the next 20 minutes. He bruised, but it looked like an “old” one—never went through that red/purple call-Children’s-Aid phase. I love arnica. (And it’s great for me, when I whack a shin on something!)
We’ve ALL been there! Kids get hurt. Even when we are looking.
If you find another mom giving you the “look” just say “I left her with her dad for 1 hour….”
ALL moms will understand that too 🙂
Poor kiddo. They love to jump on the sofa at that age 🙁 Who am I kidding, my 7 yr old still does! Drives me nuts. I find those things always look worse then they feel. At least I am hoping in her case…oh poor darling.
So although I don’t have a bruised tale to tell….I really will never know how it did not happen. When Cleo had just turned 2 I had put her down bed for the night , I head downstairs & I heard this loud thump – ran back upstairs and she was on the floor and no longer in her crib. This was the first time she had tried to escape. I wound up pulling the crib mattress out on the floor and although it took forever she finally went to sleep. She thought it was hilarious, being able to run around her room. So hubby comes home from work (he was on a later shift) and I tell him what happened, he is like, “oh it wont’ happen again, I bet it scared her too much.” Well we try to get her in the crib for her nap the next day and leave the room, not a minute later, big thump again, she is on the floor, but on the side of the room that has this heavy night table, well I honestly do not know how she missed it, she was right next to it on the floor and not really crying, just sort of like “wow!”. Of course I am so mad at hubby for insisting on putting her back in the crib. Of course he has to run out and go buy a toddler bed before going to work (and assembling it!). It was totally crazy. But really, the kid must have been made of marshmallows because 2 falls in one day and nothing!? Weird???
About 2 months ago, Aria decided to throw a temper tantrum while standing on the couch. She slid over the armrest and fell smack on her face. Her teeth went through top and bottom lip, giving her very fat lips but of course, only on one side. Her face was so black and blue! She also got a huge goose egg on her forehead. Oh and did I mention that she chipped her front tooth and it was Maury’s first night away from us?! YEAH! 🙂
And then this week, she tripped over her own feet and went head first into the “firm” corner of our ottoman’s giving her a giant goose egg, once again. And then 2 days ago, she fell off the toilet (don’t ask) and smacked her ear against the tub, leaving a nice mark. I know my kid is a space cadet, but really?! Pull it together! 🙂
We have become great friends with Arnica ointment. I bought it at Superstore/Extra Foods but any health food store would carry it. It speeds up healing for bruises, swelling, and general injury. You can’t put it on open sores…but everything around it. We used it on Aria in the first incident mentioned and all bruising and swelling was completely gone in a week. Good luck. You are a great mom! And as you can see, from all the comments, you are not alone. Ps-I’m glad you took photos. I did too, of Aria’s incident. I’m sure we can totally laugh at the pics, eventually 🙂
Oh Amanda! Poor Karenna! I know exactly how you feel! When my daughter was a year and a half old, she had an accident that I still makes me feel like a horrible mother. I had made two cups of tea for myself and my grandmother and put them on the counter, far enough from the edge (or so I thought) so Kira could not reach them. I had walked away for a second (!) to throw out the teabags and when I turned back around, Kira was reaching for one cup. I yelled out “Kira, No!” and she turned her face to me at the same time as she tipped the cup right onto her face. Long story short, she had a minor burn on the side of her face and part of her neck and chest. I was almost hysterical, even at the hospital. The nurse pulled me to the side and said not to worry, it was an accident and that I wasn’t a bad mother. In my mind, though, it was my fault and I was to blame for burning my child. After the hospital visit, Kira was running around without a care in the world. They gave me painkillers in case she couldn’t sleep through the night, but she slept like a log. However myself, I didn’t sleep a wink. To this day, I still feel awful about it. Kids heal pretty fast and forget it quite quickly … it’s the mothers that live with the guilt, even though it’s just an accident. I remember once, I brought Kira to our doctor for her checkup and told him that I felt awful about all the bruises on her legs and that we honestly did not beat our child. He actually laughed and told me that he would be more worried if she didn’t have bruises because it told him that she was a very active child and that we weren’t trying to squelch that. Like we could catch her long enough to squelch, LOL … it’s like trying to catch a human tornado!
So Karenna’s bruises will heal and she’ll probably forget all about it. My advice to you, Amanda, is give yourself a hug from all of us and know that most of us (if not all of us) mothers have been through it and because of that, we are strong and fabulous moms! 🙂
for bruising (crazy as it sounds but WORKS!) use milk
wet/soak a washcloth with milk and hold on the affected area, it really does work to take down swelling and bruising
or you could do the old movie trick of putting meat on it, but that is tooo eeeewwww in my opinion
arnica cream works well too, but not all people keep that on hand
when my son was a baby, he did the classic throw his head back while on my lap and gave ME a huge black eye. I thought nothing of it until I was grocery shopping with him the next day and a kind old lady came up to me, put her hand on my arm and said “you know sweetie, you don’t have to live with that – there are places you can go to get help”
yeah, I was speechless too….LOL
I have been there many times. I have two boys that are ruff and jump and throw things around and get hurt all the time. My youngest feel and hit his head. The next day he woke up with a nice bruise in the middle of his forehead. Kids will be kids they jump and do silly thing all the time. Your the one that was there to make it all better. Yes we all feel bad they got hurt. But at the end of the day. They still want mom and dad to read them a story and give them a kiss goodnight. So don’t be to hard on yourself. You have done the best you can to make her feel better and to make her safe.
Oh my gosh. I feel for both of you! Arwynn tripped on the road last week and got a nasty road rash on her face that looked awful. People looked sorry for her when we went out and I felt awful. Then she fell off the couch the other day too and we just got lucky because she landed on carpet and seemed to be ok. Whew!
As has been said above, we cannot be overly protective and limiting of our children in order to prevent injury. They need to explore and challenge themselves and we just have to hope like crazy they don’t do any serious damage and we don’t go entirely grey before we hit 40!
Hope Karenna is all better soon:)
Oh HONEY!! Poor, poor baby… uch. And yes – just Sunday, Madame climbed onto the stroller in the entrance of our house, because she wanted to turn on the light switch, and took a spectacular stumble that gave her a bruise in the eyebrow and along the cheekbone – I thought he’s have a shiner for sure, but its not that bad. Certainly not like your wee lass… better soon, I hope! Hugs to you both. (Poo.)
Hey Amanda,
I know this feeling all too well, Xandrea has gone through this also twice… the first time she was actually up in Calgary with my aunt and was riding her tricycle in the garage and bumped into a table and a tv… yes I said it a TV fell on her head, caught her with the corner just above the eye and she had a nice cut with some excellent bruising looked sorta like Karenna’s. Then the next time she was bathing at her dads house, and he got up and left the bathroom (dunno why) and she was spinning herself around in the tub and BAM the next thing I know I am hearing screaming and I rush in and sure enough she has split her eyelid open on the edge of the tub… YES ma’am I know this feeling well…. OH WAIT another in the process of moving I left Xandrea inside the house holding her baby sister then 7 months old when I hear the worst scream ever…. turns out Xandrea was trying to carry her sister to me and she tripped and fell and landed flat on Ta’Lyia’s face…. my poor baby had the fattest lip ever and a bruised nose! Xandrea had a bruised ego and cried for hours.
YIKES maybe I should be babysat with my kids lol
Oh man! That poor little eye, it looks so sore. When I was 9 months old I reached up and pulled a pot of tea on to me, and this girl I know rolled off the change table as an infant and has a permanent dent in her skull 30+ years later!
My sil fell off the back of a couch and broke her collarbone – and when they took her into the hospital, the doctor asked when she had broken her other one – mil didn’t know she ever had! Really, most kids will get a few bumps, and it just shows they are active and curious. We can’t be holding them every second, but of course, that doesn’t make it feel any more comfortable when you have to take them around looking like little tiny victims.
i’m soooo sorry, that must have been a shock first thing in the morning. i know i’m all paranoid with the girls’ regular checkups if they have a bruise on their shins, i can’t imagine how you must feel…all of you! i’ve been so lucky to not have had any major scrapes like this…finding some wood to knock now!!!
I guess I should be very thankful that in my near 10 years as a parent we have not had any significant injuries (I just touched wood).
We’ve just has to deal with looks and questions about Eva’s hemangioma which looks similar to a severe burn scar.
Your poor babe. Yes – when I saw the second photo I pictured the array of colours it would morph into over the next few weeks…
Yes! When my eldest was 4, he ran around the house, tripped and banged his forehead in the bottom, wooden stair. Big gash. Could see his skull. Can still see his scar. Still think I am the worst mother ever.
Well I don’t have kids yet… but apparently when I was learning to walk, I fell into a door facing and hit my forehead. I am now 26 years old and STILL have a quarter sized knot on my head that never went away. When I am in certain types of lighting people will still say “Oh my goodness did you hit your head?!”
I can only imagine what my own children will come up with to top that someday : )
I am laughing so hard at all this trauma. It’s not at all funny when it happens of course. I dislocated Ezra’s elbow as well. Twice in a week (apparently they’re more prone to it for a while). The first time the dr. gave me the stink eye, similar situation to Kirsten, I had yanked on his hand in a “directive” way. I guess a few days later I made a similar movement while we were holding hands, but MUCH more gently, in a kind way, and it dislocated again anyway. I sent my husband to take him in. The dr. asked Ezra what happened. His answer? “Mommy punched me”. Oi. I still have custody of my children AND my social work certification somehow.
your poor girl… prolly looks worse than it feels, thank goodness
at the post office my daughter walked straight into a display hook and poked her eye which caused her eye to bleed… basically the whole white of her eye was red until her body absorbed the blood…. it looked so gross
then there was the summer she got stitches twice with in two weeks- in the same spot no less
so yeah… we have had our share of accidents… stuff I thought only happened to little boys
Poor Sweetie, i hope she is better soon.
You are not alone,
First, I gave MYSELF a very similar injury. I slipped while walking up the stairs carrying stuff, smacked my brow bone into the stairs and gave myself a ginormous goose egg. Promptly called my husband ans sent him a picture in case he was later asked for an alibi.
Later that week I had to cancel a parent teacher conference at school. I had gotten away with hiding at home and hiding behind glass when I had to go out. But in a one on one situation I couldn’t handle the more than likely suspecion, I did look terrible. Took two weeks to look semi-normal.
I ALSO smacked my own kid’s eye into the car door while trying to carry him and an arm load of stuff. His black eye was not as bad.
I ALSO ( Different kid, previous kids twin brother) dislocated my 16 month son’s elbow. How you ask? He and his brother were riding on toys in the cul-de-sac and a car was coming. With his brother on my hip I tried to take him by the hand and lead him away from the oncoming car and and he threw one of those terrific tantrums, Throwing his entire body weight against me. After ward he kept crying but I thought he was just mad about having to leave the street. Later on we were in the car and I noticed he was not lifting his arm to get out of the car seat. I KNEW something was terribly wrong. My heart, stomach, and self worth plummeted. OMG what did I do to my baby!!!! I called the Dr. , my Mom, and my husband and wailed in panic. His elbow was completely dislocated. Turns out Toddler-elbow is a fairly common and easily fixed condition, quick trip to the Dr. and he was back to normal. I however have never fully recovered and am still convinced CPS is going to interrogate me at some point.
Poor Girl! That looks just painful! Hopefully it heals quickly!
When I was younger I frequented my friend Joanna’s house. It was the summer, full of sleepovers and running around in the backyard in shorts or a swimsuit. Her father is a well known lawyer in town and noticed that this little girl who was visiting her daughter was FULL of bruises. He actually asked my mom if I was accident prone or maybe… uh… awkward. Her answer? She laughed histerically and said that she’s surprised I hadn’t broken any bones…since the last time…when I was two for being such a klutz. I still bruise badly, and sometimes after a tough soccer game, I look like someone has clubbed my legs to bits. It’s definately sexy when I want to wear a dress.
Poor Karenna!!! And poor you.
None of my kids have had any big wounds like that, but do you remember when I was eight months pregnant and tripped up the stairs and gave myself a black eye? Classic. 😉
My daughter had 2 black eyes at the SAME TIME when she was 2.5! I can only imagine what people were thinking. But, she was a busy girl and, believe it or not, the two injuries were independent of each other. Crazy stuff.
Poor kid! Hope she heals quickly.
And YES, I have been there! I can’t remember exact details, but Ben had a black eye and a goose egg on his forehead at the same time (from a bad couch dismount and some other incident that I can’t remember) and I got those same looks. As if I had decided that my usual discipline methods were no longer working and went straight to punches in the face.
Oh my word. Poor girl! And poor YOU! *sigh* For a while when Liliana was about 2 she had a perpetual BIG UGLY bruise on her forehead because she always hit herself in the head IN THE SAME SPOT on multiple surfaces/edges. I hated taking her out in public. It was so bad once that I took her in to the ER (to check for concussion), but the lady behind the counter automatically asked me what Liliana had done to get that bruise and was totally sympathetic and I was so relieved (and I was also looking around for cops that were going to take her away from me).
Things like that DO make you/me/us feel like the worst mom ever. But, you’re not. I’m glad you took photos, though, because 10 or 20 or so years down the road you can look back on this and find the humor in it – and she’ll remind you that you were/are the best mom EVER.
OH MAN. POOR GIRL!!!!
POOR MOMMY!
That’s how it happens, within seconds of not spotting your kid for every moment of the damn day!!! UGH. I am sure it looks worse than it feels, (l hope!) and I hope it heals soon. I’m so sorry you’ve had to go through this. What a rough 24 hours.
Tell anyone that has any other comments besides condolences to shove it!