George Goes to the ER

     It was a bad weekend. I noted two things this weekend:

     1) Both years Joe has been getting ready to leave or return from Scout Camp, George has ended up in the Emergency Dept. I don't think Joe should go anymore.

     2) One good thing I can say about winter is; It's okay if you leave chicken in your vehicle, and you don't have to worry when you let the dogs out at night.

   All that being said, I type this at work while noting that my scrubs smell like skunk. And I want to sit right down and have a good cry at the vast volumes of laundry this could potentially mean.

     Alright. Begin at the beginning. Saturday was crazy. We had approximately 4 million things that needed to be done this weekend. And it was drizzly and chilly and the kids were just not cooperating. We had several errands to run, and ended up somehow looking at backpacks for school. Lexi and George selected nice normal book bags. Joe regaled us with a lengthy argument as to why he needed the most expensive bag available.

- It was black. Which is sensible.
- It did not have a picture of a character that would be replaced by the next "cool" character.
- It would wear well.
- It would not need to be replaced halfway through the school year.
- It had plenty of space for his things and his school iPad.
- It would save money in the end, not needed to be replaced.
- It would not break thus his things wouldn't be ruined, and it would not cause him troubles walking home.

And on and on and on and on and on some more. However, we were there to get him set up with everything he needed for his Scout camping trip, and he will just have to wait till next time.

     The entire day was just crazy. We took the kids to Saturday evening mass, with the thought that maybe for once we could have a somewhat leisurely morning Sunday. If we could get Joe all packed, and everything set, Sunday would be a little slower paced.
     My brother was having a 30th birthday party for his girlfriend. Looking at how the day had been, and all the things that needed to be done, the weather and the temperature, I let him know we were going to bow out of this party.
     I received a text telling me that he had already bought food, and that he really wanted us there, so, it was decided that the kids and I would go after church, and Bearded Man announced he would stay home and finish scraping the house.

     During church, George was in top form. One of his new favorite songs is a country song with the line "Tonight it's bottoms up"
     George coined "Tonight it's wienies up". And sang it loudly. Kaila confessed that she loves to watch my face when George talks.

     We dropped Bearded Man off at home, and headed to my brother's house. We were there in the drizzling rain, and the kids were all playing down by the creek. Evidently the game was to try and throw stones and rocks across the creek to the other side. Not sure how it happened - if it was a mis-aim, or if George walked into the line of fire, but, my niece threw a large rock, and it hit George on top of his head.

     My first thought when I saw him climb up the embankment toward me, with blood pouring down his face profusely, completely covering it, was that this was what a zombie Apocalypse will probably look like. He totally could have doubled in a horror movie. Myself and another guest, whom I think may have been an EMT scooped him up and hauled him into the house to clean him up and stop the bleeding. Head wounds bleed like crazy and often look worse than they are.
     When I heard about the size of the rock, however, I thought we should probably get him to the ER, just to be sure.

     The kids were packed back into me truck, and we headed home to drop the rest of them off on the way to the hospital.
     Kaila announced very dramatically that she was coming with us, as this was her little brother, and she needed to be there for him, so, she came too. And  confessed that she had almost fainted when she saw the bloody face. She doesn't deal well with blood.

     Once at the hospital, I realized George and I were both covered in blood. And George was questioned by every single staff member that came near us, regarding child abuse.

     He did not behave like he had just had head trauma. We were there about 3 hours, during which he:

Treated the bed like a race car as he was wheeled to the CT scan room. Begging to go faster, especially around the corners.

Figured out how to work the bed rails, both up and down

Figured out how to work all the peddles on the bed

Figured out how to make the back go up and down

Rearranged the chairs in the room repeatedly

Figured out all the buttons on the TV

Sang along with "Let it Go" on top of his lungs, as Disney was having a Singalong Saturday, God Bless Them

Locked himself in the bathroom: "Mom! I locked the door! You can't get in!!!!! ...... Still going potty, Mama! The door is still locked!!!!..... EWWWWWWW Somebody PEED IN A CUP!!!! And LEFT it here!!!!!...... the door is still locked, Mama!!!! I might stay in here forever!...... I need to wash my hands...... I need to do a VERY GOOD JOB, Mama!!!...... Hahahaha!!! The door is still locked!!! Nobody can get me now!!!!...... Now I need to dry my hands, Mama!!!!!" And, so it went. I really wasn't sure he would come out on his own. But, the entire area had a play by play of the entire experience.

He announced he was getting brain surgery

He told the nurses he was cooler than Batman AND Spider Man both.

He danced

He picked his nose, but announced it was okay, because he didn't plan to eat any boogers this time.

Announced he will probably work there someday.

It was exhausting.

2 staples in the head later, we were headed home. I thought maybe he would be a little more low key than usual the next morning. He was not, however. He woke up, padded into my room and snuggled with me for about 3 minutes, before the bouncing began.

"George! For the love of God, child, you just had head trauma! Knock it off before you end up back in the ER!"

"I'm still me, Mama." he stated matter of factly. "When can I go show Carter my head?" (His Bff...)

     A few hours after we finally got to bed Saturday night, Bearded Man let Turbo out. Who was promptly sprayed by a skunk. And who came running back into the house in a panic, and managed to bounce all over all the furniture, before he was brought upstairs, and the baby gate was put in the door as it is every night. I was awakened by Turbo trying to wake me up, and the entire room so unbearable I could hardly breathe. Bearded Man was instructed with no small amount of angry hysteria to get the dog OUT of the bedroom, and I reached for my phone to look up home skunk smell remedies for dogs. Which required wrestling him into the bathtub and scrubbing him at length until almost 4 am, as, Dawn Dish soap does not rinse well out of thick husky coats.

     Now, even after a full day of cleaning, trying every remedy I could find online, scrubbing, spraying, lighting candles, opening all doors and windows: my house still smells. Particularly the living room. And, sitting at work, I realize my scrubs do, too.

     And, with all the excitement, Joe never did get packed for camp, so, it was a frenzied rush, getting his things together, and hurriedly tossing him out the door. The poor kid. It wasn't the dramatic loving mother send off that I think he may have been expecting. I rock as a mom.

     Bearded Man was a little too cheerful, about leaving to take Joe to Scout Camp, considering the state of the house, and the monster with the head wound.... One look at my face as he danced happily out the door, and, he had flowers when he wandered back through it. 8.5 hours later.....

     Joe was successfully settled at Scout Camp. They call water "Bug Juice" there, claiming that they put dead bug juice in it. Joe agreed that the protein is probably good for everyone.

     He pointed out that the pool was too cold, and will probably give a lecture about hypothermia.

     Before leaving, the girls were doing one of those online quizzes that tell you what you will be in life. "Pick an insect. Spider, ant, beetle-" "SPIDERS AREN'T INSECTS!!!!!!!! And this dumb quiz can tell you if you will be an "INTELLECTUAL GENIUS???!!!!!" So, I think the reprieve might be a good thing for Joe and his siblings. George torments the daylights out of him, just because of the reaction he is bound to get.

     That's it in the household. The house is still not painted, but, I am hoping it will be before summer is out. It is on the premises, so, there is that.....