1 Over-Zealous Dog + 4 Year Old Child by Water's Edge = ??? (June 22, 2018)


In case you were wondering what happens when your dog jumps down a 6’ embankment into an unsuspecting 4 year old who is happily splashing at the waters edge...

Said child is shocked as she is propelled into the lake by the impact.  She of course panics a little because she goes under.  That look of panic kicks your instinct into overdrive so you dive off the bank like superwoman straight into the lake to scoop her up ensuring her that she is ok and that her mom won't be mad.    

Of course, one of your flip flops stays at the top of the rocky embankment and the other sets sail out into the lake at 50 knots.

Yet, you somehow retrieve your wayward lake-surfing shoe, wrangle two wet dogs and the soaked and shaking 4 year old together and get everyone safe and relatively dirt and mud free to the top of the embankment extremely thankful everyone is in fact "ok" and in good spirits.  You smugly think to yourself, "Whew, crisis averted.  I did good!"

You start to haul your own dripping-self back up the embankment - gasping for breath, and feeling a little too secure.  And wouldn't you know it - just as you reach the top and use your bare, and now throbbing, mud covered foot to spring yourself up the last bit of incline, it becomes evident that you don’t have solid enough footing and you are moving way too fast.

You try to avoid bulling over the soaked and trembling 4 year old and keep your balance by lurching forward in an awkward front-heavy gait that is unable to combat the forces of gravity.  Said gravity ultimately wins after a few seconds of adult terror, as you realize you are going to make direct contact with Mother Earth...with your FACE. 

The 4 year old thinks you’re just being silly and starts to giggle until you roll over, seeing stars, with blood gushing from both of your nostrils.  The same nostrils that absorbed the entire impact of your face-plant. 

The blood seeping into your shirt and down your chest does nothing to quell the child’s uncertainty about the whole situation and you can see the freak-out begin to boil up as tears well up and she squeaks out through a quivering lip, “Are  you ok?”

This is the moment that you have to dig deep.  Are you going to traumatize a 4 year old and prevent her from hiking or playing in a lake for the rest of her life, or are you going to ignore the shooting pain in your nose that is zapping your brain, wipe the tears and blood off your face with the inside of your shirt, ignore the pebbles ingrained into your palms and smile to ensure her it’s all ok?  

The contrived giggle you emit and the smile you work to situate on your face does the trick, and your small companion's face shows relief and she begins scooping up your yard sale of personal effects and helping you up.  

Soaking wet, covered in mud and blood, you begin your wobbly trek back to camp encouraging her to giggle along with you - ensuring her that her mom won't be mad that she is soaking wet.  You can't help but laugh when she surveys you from head to toe and informs you that that even if her mom isn't mad at her, your husband is going to be mad that you are covered in mud!  

Needless to say, it is my worst nightmare to think about causing any harm to a child in my custody.  I was terribly worried that I had completely traumatized my favorite 4 year old by the whole thing.  However, her mom later told be that as she was giving her a warm shower and asking her about the whole thing, she confidently told her, "Autumn saved my life...and then I saved hers!" 

Those sweet words made my heart smile and were that salve I needed for my broken nose and two black eyes!  

My favorite, brave, soaking wet, 4 year old - Quinn 

My dirty dogs - The one on the right, (Daisy) being the reason this all happened! 
Oh, and my soaked and muddy-self in the background.

After a week, most of the bruising and swelling was gone!




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Free Form Writing - A Poem: THE STORM (July 20, 2017)

Image
THE STORM By Autumn Boyet Stinton – July 20, 2017 The storm clouds outside reflect the storm brewing in my soul.   My steely cold frustration with narcissistic turbulence collides with the heat of anger and produces a head of thunder, lightning and rage that will not be contained.   Negative energy feeds upon itself growing to critical mass, destined to explode and rain down agony upon me and all around me.   Emotions swirl and the outflow of grit and dirt blast away protection leaving each nerve exposed and feeling raw.   My stomach pitches as the thunder begins to rumble and roll, unleashing a warning chorus of impending danger.   “Run away,” it admonishes.   “Take cover,” it warns.   The air is electrified with sizzling energy that seeks to lash out and plunge its wrath into whatever may quench its thirst. As if to give credence to the warning rumble of the thunder built from angst, the full intensity of the storm bursts forth as lightning flashes and echoes t
Read more

Anxiety, You BITCH! (5/14/2018)

Image
I can see myself as though from a position above – a watcher, who can not only see the breadth and ferocity of my situation, but too, the depth of raw emotion that clouds me from my own ability to see.   I am lost in my vision of even myself.   I am crushed by a pressing weight of angst as it spreads through my chest causing pins and needles to crawl and twist up my neck thus creating the desperate need for me to gasp for air – pulling it in over the hot coals that reside in my chest.     I struggle as though breathing through sand, but I drag in a raged breath.   I gasp and draw not enough air – only enough to sustain life; only enough to feel the agony of my breath as it catches on the sharp edges protruding from my heart.   Each snag makes my soul cry out in despair.   But there is no stopping the pain, for it is also coursing through my blood – a river of molten desperation, restricted in flow and building pressure.   My closed eyes bulge at the thin layer of lid that keeps
Read more

Imposed Timelines or My Own Guidepost - Which am I following? (8/14/2018)

Image
As I get older, I think about the timelines and guideposts that I use to gauge success in my life.   I often think about what I knew (at least what I thought I knew) and what I know now.   I think it is evolutionary.   Life continues on and, (if we are actually living our lives), we learn and grow as we go along.   I’ve always had an independent mind.   I have always felt as though I was fairly sure of who I was.   I knew what I wanted and where I was going.   Looking back, I can see the goal posts that I set and the timelines that I created and followed – sometimes almost blindly and to my detriment.   The only saving grace that I can glean from the bumps, bruises and failures I survived along the way is the realization that it is all part of the story that makes up who I am today.   When I think about the timelines that are imposed on us and how rigid they can be, I can’t help but consider where they came from and how I adopted them as my own.   Who felt so self-importa
Read more