Bonk

Billie got a concussion three weeks ago. It was the scariest thing that has ever happened to me- much more of a focused fear than the time Sloane wandered out of the fence in the backyard.

A nice day outside, we put the scooters in the van and headed to a nearby park. The kids were having fun and we decided to go for a walk along the paved path. Billie and Jack were up ahead scootering along at not-very-fast speeds when Billie must have hit a crack in the pavement, thunked over and there was silence. No cry or hugging herself- just laying there on the path very still and silent. It was frightening not to hear her cry.

She was unconcious, with a teensy tiny, not bleeding scrap on the side of her forehead. Bill swooped her up we booked it back to the van and got to the hospital within 20 minutes of her fall. She woke up as we were walking to the van and got steadily better from there. There was a CT scan when we arrived at the hospital to show no sign of bleeding or damage to the brain. Relief. But I stayed worried for days afterwards.

The thing is, she could have been wearing a helmet. And it's hard to face that an accident like this could really have been prevented by Bill and I reminding her to put on her helmet.

A few days of not leaving Billie's bed (not bed side, I actually curled up in her bed with her for three days) I had a lot of time to think. I would say that, as parents, we are pretty slack on the safety scale- the kids climb trees, play outside unsupervised, go rock climbing, we use car seats MOST of the time, wear helmets on bike rides only when you're older than 6 and going further than the driveway, we don't get the flu shot and we never ever EVER use hand sanitizer (gasp!). While we were in the hospital I just kept thinking "how did this happen? We do 14 things more dangerous than helmetless scootering EACH DAY!"

I don't think we're negligent; I feel like we take precautions when something has the potential for danger; littles must hold hands when crossing a busy street and all that. But I also really want the kids to grow up with a strong sense of security and not set them up with the idea that something could go wrong at any turn. I don't want them to examine every project/idea/outing for any potential disaster...just be able to identify obvious danger and make smart choices to avoid it.

What is up with a two year old needing more safety gear than an astronaut to use a three wheeled scooter on a 4 ft square patio? What speeds and heights will this child be getting to at age two in this environment? It just doesn't seem rational to me.

What's so bad about a skinned knee? Or chicken pox?




But if you had told me I could have prevented Billie from this trauma, which is already just a funny story to tell for her...(so it's my own trauma) I would have agreed to have her wear a helmet every day for a year. This is a tricky line for me between safety and overprotectiveness. I guess I'll just have to keep figuring it out as I go.