Accidents Happen......

I am sharing this story in hopes that someone can learn something from this. Yesterday we had Alistair's friend Vaughn over. The morning was going swimmingly, the boys were playing in Ali's nursery like a dream, I even caught Alistair giving Vaughn a kiss. So I went about my chores and was in the bedroom making the bed when I heard his bloodcurdling scream. It was a cold morning and I had turned on the heat to warm the house. Unfortunately, our vent is smack dab on the floor in the middle of the hallway. Vaughn was coming down the hall, tripped on his pant leg and landed on the vent. At first I thought he had just startled himself from the fall as I could not see collateral damage. But when the screaming persisted I realized his little hand was burned. I held his hand under the cool water from the sink but nothing was going to satiate the pain. (I later learned that eggwhite, if applied timely, will stop the burn from blistering and acts as an analgesic.)

I called my mom who lives down the road to watch Alistair while I tended to Vaughn. Thank God for moms who live down the road from their daughters, I don't know what I would have done with out her. And then I called Vaughn's mamma who gave me the green light to give him Children's tylenol (I'm sure she would have wanted to be there for him but it wasn't possible that morning). And thank God for Children's tylenol. He cried for another hour or so while the tylenol kicked in and then his pain went away. The blisters on his little hand continued to grow but he no longer seemed bothered by them. I tried several times unsuccessfully to keep his hand wrapped in clean gauze but he just pulled it off.

My heart breaks when I think about the pain he must have been in. And of course the tremendous guilt that someone else's child could have gotten hurt at my house. Parents, be so careful when it comes to heating devices/vents/fireplaces in your home, especially because they are often within reach of little ones. I certainly wish we didn't have to learn this one the hardway.