One hell of a day..

Days like yesterday will be hard to forget even twenty years later. For days such as these are the ones that will make up our share of tales to narrate to LG's kids.

I was down and out yesterday. I've been unwell for the past week or so and wasn't at my best since morning. It is then that Lil' General loves to test my patience stretching my patience to the limits until I finally give up letting him do what he wishes to because it would have reached a point when nothing works. It was one of those moments...the day began with him throwing my cellphone on the parapet wall. I struggled for a good 27 minutes attempting to reach it with a broom in one hand and a long mop on the other. I would almost get it - with the cellphone barely hanging in there in the support of two sticks - and then it would fall back when barely a feet away. It was so damn frustrating to repeat this a dozen times while the phone was getting wet in the rain. But for Lil' General, it was funny like a game his momma was playing. I gave up and pushed the phone down somehow on the lawn after failing dozen times again. If this wasn't enough, he decided food tastes better from the dust bin. While getting his lunch ready, he pulled the dust bin out ..was i Lucky to put it back in place before he could rip it apart?

In the few seconds he got while I went to the dining room to place his lunch on the table, he decided to fling all the plastic containers in the kitchen racks as if it were a ball. I come back to see the floor littered with all the containers and pans. This is a daily routine but it hadn't gotten so worse ever before. I said I could deal with this and fixed everything. Well fed, he was charged up to do more damage through the afternoon. The house looked like a war zone by evening.

I gave up and sat to read the new edition of Business Week. He climbed on the sofa, slipped and fell back hitting his head hard on the floor. He cried so loud for a good 40 minutes that the whole neighborhood heard. We live in a bungalow so it is indeed a big deal if his scream could be heard as far as it was heard. By late evening, I had people coming over to inquire what went wrong with their hero. People find LG charming for some reason and he has more friends than I have had in a whole lifetime. During his evening walks, he makes it a point to call people in the balconies and wave at them which is very fondly reciprocated.

LG is pro in climbing the sofa and getting down. With months of experience behind him, I felt he would handle. If I went closer, he was more likely to persist longer so I stayed behind while watching what he was up to. But could I have been more wrong? His PJ's were slippery and he slipped without getting a good grip. More often than not, he sits on the headrest of the sofa and not on the base like normal people do. I never ever take chances with that one and always get him back.

Anyways, so the scream continued with the people downstairs - his best buddies coming over to take charge. Comforting, rubbing, ice pack - nothing worked. On one of those really bad nights, hen he wakes up in the middle of the night and lets out a scream what always works is a walk outside and let him play a bit in the puja room. But nothing worked yesterday because he was in PAIN. He puked on her. So she suggested I take him to the Doc. I called the Doc for his opinion. He suggested I bring him in. An usually cool Doc - infact the coolest I've seen so far, he said it's better if he looked at him. Puking after falling is not a good sign. But LG had actually put his fingers in his mouth to puke so it was not automatic in a way. He does that very regularly (not that I encourage it). While she changed and handled him, I got ready with his stuff, cleaned him up and we were out in 10 mins. The Seniol was informed too. He was on his way who was otherwise going to be back late that night because of scheduled calls.

One other thing I love about LG's Paed is his clinic is never crowded. That's like a dream. No wait time absolutely. The max I've ever waited is for 10 mins in all these months. I was startled by the first question he asked me "Do you work?" I replied in the negative. This made me think harder - we'll come to that later. One touch at the bump, he let out a big shriek. LG had calmed in the auto on the way to the clinic - which was a good 30 minutes after he had fallen. The Paed said he was 99% sure nothing was wrong but he still had a 1% doubt. I was to observe him for the next 3-4 hours. If there were any signs of unforced vomiting, fits or bouts of unconsciousness I was to call the doctor and then go in for a CT Scan - Brain at the hospital in my neighborhood. He prescribed a paracetamol/painkiller syrup to be administered every 4-6 hours for 3-4 days. In such cases, it is the fear that results in a fever overnight.

We observed him and thank god, he was slowly limping back to normal. Not his usual naughty self - a little subdued. But he was OK. Trouble started after giving him dinner when we put him to sleep. It hurt him so badly that he couldn't lie down even for a second. He started screaming again and went on till about 10:00 p.m. This phase was the worst for he was feeling sleepy because of the medicine but just couldn't go to sleep. When he was totally exhausted and the painkiller took effect, he slept and slept and slept until 8:00 this morning waking briefly in the night.

He has been doing alright today. How soon kids forgot what happened? He was up
to the sofa trick all over again today but I've been keeping a close watch.

Coming back to the "If I worked?" question, I feel doubly guilty for not taking good care of him while staying home. Maybe he meant, the kid was under the supervision of a maid that lead to this fall. Should I get someone to help me with LG or such accidents common with all kids? I guess not common .... there are times when I so wish he would sit at one place with his toys atleast for 10 minutes in a row. Maybe that's too much to ask of a toddler? Is this how it is with you all too?