No More Monkeys Running in the House

I am constantly telling the children to stop running through the house. First of all, it drives me crazy because they sound like a herd of elephants and they can't do it without yelling and screaming. Second, it often ends in tears because inevitably someone falls or runs into something.

The Monday after Christmas was one of these occasions. I was half asleep in the lazy boy, enjoying a much needed break from school when Sam came running through the living room. Bam. He smacked his head, which is at just the right height for the video cabinet. I woke to the sound of him writhing in pain on the floor nearby.

I sighed, "How many times do I have to ask you to stop running in the house?" His wailing continued as he held a hand to his head.

Come, let me look at it...

He climbed on my lap and I pulled his hand away from his head. It was covered in blood. I calmly yelled for Scott. He came and helped me clean it up so that we could assess the damages. There was a pretty bad gash that wasn't bleeding too badly, but was fairly deep. I decided it need some medical attention, so off we went to the doctor's office with Sam still in his PJ's at 2 in the afternoon.

Thank goodness I insisted that Sam take his gameboy with him. He calmly sat and played while the doctor told me that he thought staples would do the trick. I laughed as I looked at Sam, listening to our conversation and yet pretending not to while he played. If it had been Sierra or Spencer, just the mere mention of the word "staples" would have sent either of them into massive hysteria.

"Guess what, Sam, staples in your head, like in 'Get Smart'!" Sam smiled to acknowledge my comment, not even looking up from his gameboy.



The worst part was the local anesthic shot, but all he said was "ow" a couple of times. While they were putting in the staples, he kept saying, "darn it! I keep dying in the same place!" Yes, he was still glued to a game, not even flinching for the procedure.



Getting the staples out was a bit more tramatic, with a few tears and such. He had the staples for a week, just long enough to show them to his class at school the first day back.