Thursday, March 06, 2008

The Splinter

Daddy had just left the house, I had just gotten out the shower when I started pulling the sheets away from Little Man so he could get up. He made his usual fuss, turning away from me, burying his face in the pillow. I gave him his sippy of milk, but he started crying. "What now?" I said in my mind, hoping it wasn't going to be one of those mornings where he just sat there and cried and wouldn't get dressed.

"What's the matter Little Man?"

"My foot hurts!" he wailed.

"Where?"

He took his feet out from under the blanket and pointed at the sole of his right foot. I grabbed it and saw the culprit…a small splinter. "How the hell…?"

I went for my tweezers.

At this point he was crying at the top of his lungs, he gets his dramatic side from me and he wanted everyone to know he was having a procedure done. Unfortunately his only audience was the baby, and she was standing in the crib smiling as she watched.

OH MY GOD the screaming as I tried to take that thing out, and I was only holding his foot, he wasn't even letting me go near him with the tweezers yet. "Little Man if you want the boo-boo to go away I have to take it out…" "NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! Mommy NOOOOOO! IT HURTS!" He was fully kicking and punching at me, anything to get me away.

Five full minutes before I could even get the tweezers near him. I got it out, him still screaming…I looked at it closely, it was a small hair. Daddy had cut his and Little Man's hair the night before and one of those stubborn little suckers that are so difficult to get off the floor with a broom and mop had somehow made its way into my son's foot. "Why didn't he complain about it last night???" I asked myself.

No matter.

"Wanna see?" I asked him, holding the tweezers out to him. He nods and comes closer. "Eeeewwwww," he says.

"Yeah, ewwwwwww."

I threw the tiny piece of hair in the garbage and went back into the room. He stands on the bed with his arms out. I go into the hug and as he wipes his nose on my shirt he says "Thank you for making my foot all better, Mommy."

I melted into a puddle.

Even with all the snot on my shirt that hug made everything better. This is what motherhood (and life for that matter) is about, huh? It has to hurt to feel better…



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2 comments:

DD said...

That is so true, what you last said. And actually the more drama they make before hand, the bigger of a hero you become.

Mama of 2 said...

Had a similar experience with my own Little Man a few years back and literally Diana it took both my husband and myself at over an hour to get out one tiny splinter. Little Man was screaming and crying and pulling his foot away before I even came within 10 feet of his foot with the tweezers. It was awful and an experience I am hoping not to ever have to repeat.