The Week in Review

A few notes about the week.

First, in the W.O.S.S. (that's Wife's On Swing Shift, definitely not "WUSS") department: To entertain the boys I took them out to a few different parks after daycare, just to get a little nervous energy out, and to get to know the area a bit better.

We went to the nearest one, the name of which eludes me, but it's just down the road, turn, down the road, turn, and there it is. Otherwise, a trudge through one row of houses and a farmer's field, and we're there.

The kids seemed to enjoy themselves, as we took a quick lap around the path around the perimeter of the park. We hung around a bit, as I noticed a slight Autumnal chill in the air for an instant, and Elias played in the sandbox for a bit, before he told me his nose was bleeding. I pulled out a handkerchief and had him hold it to his nose for a while to get the bleeding to stop. He must not have understood me as, when I removed the handkerchief, it was getting rather drenched with blood. We quickly got back to the car, and got home, and he started worrying about the blood. I switched out the bandana (fortunately, I'd chosen the red one, which I think helped keep the panic to a minimum at the park), and got a washcloth soaked in cold water, and told him to hold it to his nose, but to plug his nose and breathe through his mouth.

He cried and fought it for a bit, trying to hang on to the washcloth, and it was turning red, as well. I observed it's very hard to get a person to keep calm in these situations, especially where blood is concerned, and, well, this was also very new to him, so, yeah, of course he panicked.

Eventually, I got him to just plug his nose, and I was able to take the washcloth away. He calmed some more, and before long, yes, the blood stopped, but if that wasn't a lesson in controlling panic...

I'm proud of him, just the same for getting a grip and following my directions. I got another lesson in rearing kids (and a bit of human nature, as well), and Elias got one of his first lessons in what the military used to call, "Self-aid and buddy care."