Monday, March 27, 2006

Pause. Slam.

It was one of those moments where time stood still. I felt like I had all the time in the world to see what was happening and prepare for it. I had run through the sequence of events dozens of times and knew exactly what movements to make to resolve the situation quickly, but it was only a fraction of a second.

Ellie and I were headed out to run a couple of errands and have her bangs trimmed. I was putting the little potty chair into the trunk, chatting with her all the while. I reached up and pushed the trunk lid down. Then she shot out her little hand and rested it on the back of the car, right in harm's way.

I saw it coming and I just had to wait. There was a moment of silence after the big bang, while she looked up at me, right into my eyes. Then she started screaming. I didn't waste a movement. My hand was in my pocket pressing the trunk release button on the key fob almost before she started screaming. I was swearing and clutching her to my chest while running for the house as the tears started to come. I was cuddling her on the couch with the phone in one hand and a bag of frozen peas over her fingers in the other hand just seconds after it happened.

My mother was away from her cell phone. Paul was unreachable, en route to Mississippi. I had to wait an unusually long time to get through to a nurse at Ellie's doctor's office.

But within 2 or three minutes, she had stopped crying. She allowed me to pull on each of her three smashed fingers (middle, ring, and pinkie on the left hand). She opened and closed her fist for me. She gripped my finger firmly, and held the peas to her own hand, very seriously (missing the injured spot, but solemn all the same).

The nurse said that at this age, little finger bones are harder to break than they will be in just a few short years' time. My mom pointed out that Ellie's natural joint flexibility (looser tendons and ligaments) meant that her hand bent back further, minimizing damage to the bones.

Within minutes, the only sign of any drama was a slight redness from the cold peas, and a tiny bruise at the base of the middle and ring fingers.

We made the hair appointment, ran our errand, and played at the park on the way home. A few days later, she still seems perfectly fine. Whew.

While we were out, I bought her a pair of crocs - pics to come shortly. As you see, I've laid the groundwork for a reward system that's sure to cause both of us much grief in the short, medium, and long term. But I slammed her tiny hand in the trunk.

12 comments:

ccw said...

This is one of the most horrific feelings. So glad that Ellie's tiny hand is ok.

Anonymous said...

Ok, so today must be the day for smashed fingers. Elainah was in my bedroom beginning to empty out my sock drawer, for about the tenth time today, when Cj attempted to stop her by slamming the door shut.

Unfortunately, her fingers were under the bottom edge of the drawer, so they took the whole force of his slam. She has a cut on the top of her index finger as well as one on the bottom on the joint.

I tried using ice in a ziploc, but she was to fascinated with trying to unzip it (her teacher keeps all her toys in ziplocs-and is teaching her to unzip).

Her hand must be ok because she is running around like she usually does-but ouch! Sounds like a bad day for tiny fingers.

So glad to here Ellie is ok.

kairos said...

Yikes! I'm glad Ellie is ok too.

T'was an accident. These things happen. Its why we practice both confession and assurance of forgiveness....

Peace be with you and Ellie!

Katie said...

How scary for you! Glad it turned out ok!

Jessica said...

Sarahlynn...I hope you were able to laugh at my joke on your answering machine - we are so glad Ellie is okay!

If you haven't already blogged about it, you should follow this one up with that story about your mom and the broken glass.

Sarahlynn said...

CCW, yes it is. And, thank you!

RNP, poor Elainah! I hope her little fingers are OK.

Thank you, Kairos!

Katie, nice to "meet" you! (Gorgeous pics on your blog, btw.) Thanks!

Jessica, my mom and I laughed out loud. And you're right about the broken window story; that's a natural sequel!

Canada said...

Oh, poor you!! Poor Ellie, of course, but you're the mom. You'll feel guilty about this long after she's forgotten about it!!!

Love your blog, btw. Looking forward to the broken window story!

themikestand said...

Yowch... I'm glad she's okay.

Also, I'd gladly get my hand slammed in a door for some kicky crocs.

Sarahlynn said...

Thanks, Canada. And, Hi!

TheMikeStand, nice to meetcha! The crocs are probably totally worth it. But I still feel awful awful awful. I'd be so mad at my husband if it had been him. I think we're both secretly relieve that I was the one who did this.

Holly said...

When my older son was Ellie's age, he touched the exhaust pipe of my car right after we had pulled into the garage and I had let him out of his carseat. I don't even remember exactly how it happened, but he burned his little hand touching it, and I felt AWFUL.

And croc's? They rock! We love love love them here.

Sarahlynn said...

Ouch ouch ouch! Thanks for the tailpipe warning; now I'll be on the lookout for that possibility!

I'd be better with the crocs if I could just figure out where toddler sizes stop and kid sizes begin. Or something. I think I bought the wrong size.

Psycho Kitty said...

Aaaargh....oh, I feel for you. I rolled the Girl's hand up in the automatic window a few weeks back. Oy.

But Crocs!!!! Bwahaha. Welcome to the Dark Side.

I don't think they have toddler sizes, hon, not really--7 is the smallest I've found. I guess that's a toddler size, technically...7,8,9,10,11,12,13, then you go to 1 and go on from there. Said the ex-shoe department employee.