Things I Can't Say

Tips and Tales from an Introverted Mom

Just Another Day Here, With a Bloody Head

Do you know what this is?

It’s a weighted warm-up golf club.  Used by golfers to practice their swing. It’s not long enough to reach the ground, so you aren’t whacking at the grass or hitting an actual ball. It. is. HEAVY. That end weight is no joke.

Do you know what my oldest child thought he should do with it?

Grab the handle and swing it around as he spun in a circle, of course. Because, why not? It’s not like that end is incredibly heavy or anything. And it’s not like any of his brothers were in the yard with him or anything.

Oh, wait…

On the day before Thanksgiving, I was cleaning up the kitchen and running back and forth between there and the backyard where my bookend boys were playing since it was a gorgeous day. I had just been back inside for maybe three minutes when I hear a frantic knock on our back door and hear hysterical crying.

I go to the door and there are my two boys along with our neighbor.

The youngest with blood pouring down his face.

At first, we think it’s just a bloody nose that he’s managed to smear all over his face and up into his hair. But after using a towel to wipe some of the blood away, I realize it’s coming from up near his hairline.

With all the blood, it was hard to see how bad it was, so I get Cub into the tub rinse him off. His hands are black: the boys had been making a mud puddle in the backyard before this accident. So between the mud and the blood, he was a mess.

Monkey was sent up to his room after telling me that it was an accident, that he was swinging around “Daddy’s golf thing” and Cub ran near him and got hit with it. I just wanted him out of the way for the moment. If he stayed downstairs, chances were that he and Bear would have gotten into a fight while I was trying to deal with all the blood. I didn’t want more blood.

After calming Cub down and finally getting the bleeding to stop, I call the doctor.

Explaining what happened and checking in to be sure that I didn’t need to bring him in.

The nurse asked me questions to determine if Cub had a concussion or would need stitches. I answered “no” to all of her questions, explained that the cuts were stopping bleeding and weren’t very long, but that I didn’t want to be that mom who ignored that her child’s head was profusely bleeding, have something happen later in the day and then feel like an idiot for not calling the doctor earlier. The nurse told me to watch him and that she’d have the doctor call me in a bit.

Of course this all happens right before we have to get to the grocery store for a time-specific pick-up. And Cub won’t let me touch his face any more, so there’s still some blood on his face. Plus two angry bird bandaids. So we get all sorts of looks at the store. He pathetically walks along with us, carrying a box of Strawberry Shortcake bandaids since he claimed those would make his head feel better.  I felt like I should put a sign around my neck that said “I didn’t do it. And it was just an accident. I swear.”

On our way home, the doctor called and I felt the need to explain how this happened. She just laughed and said that it happens all the time, though usually with baseball bats instead of golf clubs.

Ah, the joys of parenthood. It’s all fun and games ’til someone’s head is gushing blood.

So, how was your Thanksgiving break?

*For the record: Cub is just fine. And Monkey and I had a talk about how accidents happen so he wasn’t in trouble, but how he needs to be aware of who/what is around him and what could happen. 

Comments

  1. Oh my, that must have been scary!
    Head wounds are notoriously bloody, and they are usually not as bad as it looks.
    Speaking from experience, unfortunately. Sigh.
    Glad he’s okay!

    • Head wounds really do bleed a lot! Thankfully, the ones my boys have had so far haven’t been bad enough to require stitches- they just look bad at first! 

  2. Wow. Cub is lucky. Each time something happened to my brother’s head when we were younger he had to have stitches. Head wounds do bleed lots. So glad everyone is okay.

  4. I’m so glad that he’s alright! I remember when my daughter fell and cut her head… oh my the blood! I swear that kid was going to bleed to death! Scared the crap out of me!

  5. Oh my!  You really handled that like a pro.  I have a feeling with 2 boys that I will have this in my future since my husband was known to have a few scrapes when he was younger!

    • Hubs has so many scars from when he was a kid and got into everything. My boys are following right in his footsteps! 

  6. When I was the school clinic volunteer, I had to make my first call to a mom to tell her someone was going to need stitches. I was afraid she would freak out.

    So I called and told her and waited. There was a long silence and then a sigh before she said, “Again? He just got stitches out six weeks ago.” He was also one of three boys.

  7. Thank goodness he’s okay! My cousin was hit in the mouth with a golf club when he was about that age, and he required surgery. It was horrible! All’s well that ends well, as they say.

  10. Glad everyone is ok! Alison is right, head wounds make for lots of gore. I am reminded of my hubbie and two of his brothers camping close to their home. The eldest swung a hatchet to chop some wood, and the blunt end hit him on the back of his head. He quickly ran home, arriving covered in blood. Fun fun. 

  11. So scary! This accident plus Thanksgiving would be enough to warrant a spa day for me! Hope you had an uneventful rest of the holiday. And how adorable is your little boy? OMG, he’s beautiful! Happy he’s okay. 

  13. Ugh, that is the ultimate worst. Free kid time and holiday prep are not a good match, they always result in some catastrophe. I’m glad that he is okay!

    • That’s what I get for trying to get something done, right? Or actually, I could have been in the yard with them and blinked and it would have happened! 

  15. Glad he didn’t need stitches.  And yes- I hate bats and things like that for this very reason, kids are just kids and don’t think ahead enough.  

    • I don’t know if I’ll ever get over freaking out about blood. I handle it b/c there’s no choice, but it still makes me freak out.

  18. My oldest hit a neighbor girl in the head with a baseball bat when she got in the way. Very similar story. Thank goodness she was ok too. Sounds like you had a “fun” Thanksgiving!
    Sandy

  19. Every injury like this over here was right before a holiday. I swear it is like a guarantee. With two boys over here, everything is a bat or a golf club. Glad he is okay!

  20. Oh boy! The head wounds! My son has had 13 stitches in his head so far at various times. Last summer we were at a softball game and several of the younger brothers were playing at the edge of the woods that surrounded the fields. All of sudden my son comes flying out of the woods screaming that another boy was “bleeding bad”. Apparently the boys had found sticks (what is it with boys and sticks) and were swinging them around and one boy got whacked hard in the face. We thought that perhaps his nose was broken, but it turned out to be okay- just a badly scratched and bruised face!

    • Boys and sticks- I don’t know what the heck it is but mine have found and played with them ever since they were old enough to walk! 

      13 stitches? Wow! 

  21. Oh no!!! Glad to hear he is okay and didn’t need stitches or anything worse. Boys, boys, boys! Gonna put mine in a big bubble.

  23. Oh, this brings back memories – putt putt golf with my family, little brother bugging me as usualy, wouldn’t back off, well, you can guess what happened next time it was my turn to swing and he was on my tail. That was the end of that game.

    Love your blog – especially the name. I dream of starting an anonymous blog where I can write all those things I would never say out loud. For now I stay named and practice, “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is lovely, etc.” Too bad my thoughts don’t always follow suit.

    Blessings, Alyson

  24. Oh my, I can’t even imagine how scary that was.  Whenever the blood starts gushing, I always start to panic.  The joys of little boys, right?  So glad he is okay.

  25. LOL, a similar situation happened at my house, except instead of kid, it was my husband, and instead of other kid, it was my shelf of our daughter’s pictures that he putted a golf ball at and knocked over all the frames and shattered glass everywhere just because he wanted to play golf in the house?!?!

    Men….

  27. I got smacked in the head with a golf club when I was a kid. I was standing behind my cousin when she swung. Had one heck of a goose egg and a headache, but no blood. So glad you son is OK. Getting hit in the head is always scary!

  29. OMG! I’m so very sorry to hear this happened! Poor thing 🙁 At least Strawberry Shortcake bandaids helped him feel better. I’m sure lots of TLC helped, too 🙂 

    XOXO I’ve missed you, Shell!