Accidents Happen

This past Sunday was a rather traumatic day at our house. You see, Daniel, Malachi, and I went to a church leadership conference on Friday and Saturday. I learned some good things. The only problem: Malachi got about 45 min. of nap total on Friday. He then got about 7 hours of sleep (most nights, it is 11-12 hrs.) that night in the middle of a king-sized bed that should only have been shared by Daniel and I since we did had a pack 'n play set up. He did get about 2 hours nap total on Saturday in the car, but do you see where I'm going with this? The kid was severely off schedule, and to his credit, he wasn't that unpleasant. He was able to roll with the punches.

Then...we have a time change Saturday night/Sunday morning! Needless to say, Malachi was not his normal self. Well, due to all the lack of sleep, Sunday morning was a little difficult for our son. He started throwing an unneeded temper tantrum in the bathroom while I was trying to put in my contacts and Daniel trying to get in the shower. It was one of those tempers where he would hold his breath as long as possible. To try to make a long story short, Daniel and I both had a hold of Malachi while he was standing during his tantrum, but a few moments later, neither of us had control of him (not anyone's fault).

He ended up planting his face on the hard linoleum floor. His nose immediately swelled a little and turned pick and purple. Thankfully, 5 minutes later he was back to his normal self. He wouldn't allow me to put any ice on it. We were going to rush to the hospital, when Daniel and I both came to our senses and said, "What in the world can a doctor do to a bruised 15 mo. old nose?" and "What do doctor's know about my son that I don't already know?" The answer to both of those: nothing. Someone made a point to me today (or yesterday, rather) stating, "That's why doctors 'practice' medicine." I'm sorry. I know that some doctors may be fabulous, and obviously they have more knowledge of the human body than I. It is just that in the last 16 months I have come into contact with one too many incompetent doctors (like the one who told us Malachi's food allergy to milk was actually a virus). So, I err on the side of "let's not go."

Anywho, I digress. We waited out his injury. His nose (and mouth) seemed a little tender for Sunday and Monday. By Wednesday, he was pressing his nose and whole face against all kinds of surfaces with no notion of pain. His bruising is almost gone now. He is doing just fine. Sunday I felt like a failure as a mother. My mother told me that "those things happen," and she's right. The only problem is: I feel like they should happen to everyone else but not to me. I think most mothers (and fathers) feel that way. It's ok to comfort someone in their accidents with children, but it is not acceptable to have those accidents with your own children. I am learning to forgive myself and move on, but I am definitely more on my toes if even a small temper arises.

I just have to say now, Praise the Lord! The injury could have been much worse. God was protecting our little boy. Satan was trying to distract us from the teaching of the word to children (in Kids World), but God won in that situation. We had three children raise their hands for salvation!!! What if we had not been there? Would the children have been given that opportunity? I don't know, but what I do know is that frustrating morning and day turned into a celebration. God was glorified and is quickly healing the hurt that was done that morning. Thank you, Lord!