Tuesday, July 1, 2008

First blood


We were probably supposed to have felt a gush of distress and cry out, "Oh no, you poor thing!" But our response was better captured by Pa's ejaculation: "Oh, you silly baby!"

Yep, Sonny has received his first injury - and it was self-inflicted. Left to his own devices for just a few seconds, he managed to swish his hand to his own face - and gouge a deep scratch just below his left eye. Mum, close at hand, heard a scraping sound, then Sonny's wail. The blood flowed freely, and we had to apply pressure to the wound using cotton balls.

It was not a week ago that we were blogging about Sonny's sharp fingernails. His mittens are therefore seldom left off, but he certainly took his chance when it came. Thanks to his strike, persistent redness and his continual worrying at the site with his hands, we took him to a doctor a few days later.

"It shouldn't leave a scar, but if it does, it's all right. He's a boy," the medico said unsympathetically, before prescribing an anti-infection cream. Cheers, doc!

Later, Pa wondered briefly whether his primary initial response - one of annoyance - made him a less than ideal parent. Where was his instinctive anguish, or any automatic rush to protect one's child? On nature programmes, we see hurt geese drawing off predators to save their little goslings. No stirrings of such heroism on our part.

Who's to say, however, how individuals will react when faced with genuine threats to their nearest and dearest? Folks who seem meek as mice become lions; blustery tough guys fail the test when it really counts. We see it every time unlikely heroes emerge out of some disaster - and, more quietly, in households around the world, when parents take on massive loads to provide for their offspring.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man. But until that time of testing, second-guessing is pretty pointless. A nick that heals, or even a little scar, won't retard a child's progress in life.

Whether that child's a boy or a girl.

12 Comments:

Mumsgather said...

Oh, poor Sonny! Has he inflicted any injuries on you guys yet btw?

Cloudsters said...

We're carrying only minor scratches, nothing like what he's done to himself.

Logophile said...

A particularly uncoordinated maneuver on the part of one of my children left me giggling like a madwoman, especially since afterward he was wailing and carrying on. There was no serious injury but still, I felt terrible for laughing when my child hurt himself.
He seems, at 9, to have suffered no serious side effects.

AudreyO said...

Ouch. I remember cutting my kids fingernails really often due to scratches. Poor baby.

Sydney said...

Poor baby! I remember the first time I tried to cut my little guys sharp fingernails, I actually snipped a little bit of skin and it bled like a major flesh wound. I was a new mom and felt just HORRIBLE about it. But it's truly amazing how fast babies heal. He'll be good as new and ready to scratch some more in no time!

iMother2.0 said...

Welcome to BSM! Poor sweetie. Nice close up, though :)

Cloudsters said...

Logophile, we can dimly guess at the exact nature of your child's mishap... sounds like it was potentially not a laughing matter!

As it happens, Audrey and Sydney, one of our least-favourite activities is trimming Sonny's nails: We're always afraid he'll jerk and suffer a cut (turns out he needs no help from us, of course).

Technical credits for the close-up, Mia's Mama: It was taken with a Nikon Coolpix; Photobucket's suite of editing features was used to crop and sharpen.

Meaghan said...

Olivia's first injury was also self-inflicted, a similar scratch, but under her right eye. I did, I confess, feel very guilty because she scratched herself with a rattle that I had just placed in her hand. No lasting scar on her face, or on my conscience. Since then, she's had countless bumps and bruises, some more traumatic for her, some for me. Occupational hazzards?

Cloudsters said...

Occupational hazards: Think that's just the right term for it, Meaghan.

TripleJin said...

I call 'em battlescars.

hahaha... am checking out your archives....I had to find out if you guys were chinese.


I sometimes comment like a digital camera. I shoot without thinking. Then go.. "OPPS!" ;-)

Anonymous said...

oops..that was me.. mott hahah..my other blogs.

Cloudsters said...

Sounds like you have a whole clutch of blogs, mott/triplejin. Must keep you terribly busy; just one is all we can handle!