That's Gonna Leave a Mark!

Well, well, well. What an adventurous evening in our household tonight! Around 6:30 p.m., the short curly haired girl, the taller pretty girl, and the short kid with glasses were downstairs playing. I was downstairs, too, lightly napping on the sofa where I had been trying to figure out a Nintendo DS game.

The short kid with glasses had made up a game for him and the taller pretty girl to play. He took the tall kid's skateboard and put it in the middle of the floor. He took a stack of throw pillows from a basket and stacked them on the floor just beyond the skateboard. The object of the game was to get a running start from the other side of the room, jump over the skateboard, and land safely on the pillows. The taller pretty girl went first. She ran and jumped and landed on the pillows. The kids laughed and got excited about this new game. Next, it was the short kid with glasses turn. Right when he was about to get his running start, the short curly haired girl who had previously shown no interest whatsoever in the game, ran over and kicked the stack of pillows. The short kid with glasses yelled at the short curly haired girl, and then re-stacked the pillows. He started over on the other side of the room and got up a good head of steam. He soared through the air, easily clearing the skateboard, but he had such a strong jump, he also cleared the landing pillows. Before he hit the ground, he instinctively stuck his hand out to break his fall. SNAP!!

Immediately, the short kid with glasses let out a terrifying scream. He rolled over and grabbed his arm. As he stood there crying, I noticed that his little arm looked like the letter "w." He ran upstairs and the taller pretty girl followed. They ran into the den to show my roommate what had happened. From there on, confusion ensued. I heard my roommate saying, "His arm is broken." The tall kid said, "What? Oh my gosh!" The taller pretty girl was crying, the short kid with glasses was crying, and then the girlfriend came running into the room. "What happened?" she shouted over the ruckus. My roommate repeated himself, "His arm is broken. Look at it." The girlfriend looked at the kid's arm and almost fainted. My roommate scooped the short kid with glasses up and took him to the emergency room. The girlfriend frantically got dressed and arranged childcare for the others and went to the hospital, too.

My roommate and the short kid with glasses didn't get home until after midnight. The tall kid and taller pretty girl stayed up until their brother got home. He came in and showed off his cast and sling. He told them all about his hospital adventure: riding in a wheelchair, getting stuck with an IV needle, inhaling bubble gum flavored gas, watching Disney channel in the hospital bed, throwing up into a bucket (gross) . . .

Truth be told, I'm glad the little guy is okay. I broke my hip a few years ago, so I know how painful a broken bone can be. He's a tough little booger, but an experience like that can be frightening.

My question, though, is this: how come I didn't get a stuffed animal and a set of Matchbox cars from the nurses when I got sent home from the hospital? No fair.