You see, each and every morning when the boys get ready for school, anything can happen. Honestly, if I could get even a tiny glimpse of the immediate future, I'd do what I could to change it and avoid an outcome where at least one person has been reduced to tears. But the morning's events are always a surprise, and an unwelcome one at that.
I don't share with you each morning's events because to be honest, who wants to listen to me complain and whine? You would only be silently thanking God that you are not me and while we all need to vent from time to time, even I would get tired of reliving the event. So, I leave it in the past the moment they walk out the door to get the bus. But on some mornings, like today, there is another event waiting to occur in the short time they have between walking out the door and waiting for the bus.
Honestly, I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried. And since I can't foresee the future, anything can happen. Anything. The boys headed out and I prepared to station myself at the window where I could observe them from afar and intercede if it became necessary. But darn it all, I didn't get to the window in time this morning. Come to think of it, I think they actually went out a little earlier than usual. Because when I got to the window, somebody was already in tears.
Joey had his turn before heading out, not that he couldn't go for an encore. This time, it was Chris who was crying and it wasn't a whine, but an "I'm hurt" type of cry. I could safely conclude that the reason he was hurt had to do with Tommy because that is pretty much status quo.
So, Tommy had found an old paperweight of mine in the attic and decided he was going to take it to school. Because, he said, he had so much paper at his desk that he needed to weigh down. Right. But to keep himself entertained while waiting for the bus, he decided it would make a great device to roll down the driveway and see how far it would get. And Chris decided he'd intercept it before it reached its intended destination and stopped it with his foot. Now, do you see where this is going? A runaway paperweight rolling down the driveway, abruptly stopped with the foot of an 8-year-old wearing sneakers, ped socks, and shorts. The runaway paperweight certainly wasn't aiming for anything, but I'll bet you can guess what part of Chris's foot got the brunt of the hit.
Oh, but let me back up, because there is a teeny tiny part of this story that actually occurred a week ago, a story I decided didn't have enough merit to share because for one, I wasn't there to see it happen firsthand, and also, I'm not the type of overbearing mother who goes looking for trouble on her child's behalf when it is better left as a hard lesson learned and not worth making bigger than it started out to be.
Last week during soccer practice, Chris and his teammates had a scrimmage with another team. At the end of the scrimmage, a player from the other team approached Chris and accused him of side-tackling him while on the field. Chris flatly denied that he did any such thing (and knowing my own kid, I can tell you he wouldn't have done it intentionally because he's not vindictive like that), but this other kid was clearly agitated about whatever had happened and wasn't hearing any of it. "Oh yeah", he said to Chris, "Then what's this?" And before Chris could react, the kid had kicked him, hitting his inside ankle, hard. With outdoor cleats, mind you. And the kid stalked off, leaving Chris crumpled on the ground holding his ankle.
Because it was the ankle of the leg he broke last winter, G was not only worried about another potential injury, but furious that a kid would go and do that to another kid. Chris should have walked away instead of arguing with the kid, but who would have expected the kid to go and do what he did? Anyway, they came home, we iced Chris's ankle and by the next morning he was fine.
Jump to this morning. The same leg, the same ankle, again taking a hit. What is it with this kid and that leg of his? Call me unsympathetic, but they had all been warned time and time again about doing things like this that always results in somebody getting hurt. While his ankle was bruised, it didn't warrant the need for him to stay home. I told him to go to the nurse once he got to school to put ice on it and sent an e-mail ahead of time to notify the nurse, his teacher, and principals. It's 9:41 and I haven't gotten any phone calls, so I'm sure the pain is receding and he is in capable hands.
Yes, I confiscated the paperweight from Tommy because no doubt, it would have been viewed as a dangerous weapon on the playground because I have no doubt he would have been using it for anything but weighing his paperwork down.
Now, stop rubbing your ankle and thank your lucky starts you aren't me. Surely you have something more important to do than to shake your head at me like that?
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