Wednesday, November 12, 2008

A quick, little trip...

...to Kohl's ended up a huge fiasco this morning. Ella woke up a little rambunctious today, and all that extra energy only intensified when we got to the store. My little monkey was hiding under racks, climbing on shelves, and knocking multiple things over. When we finally made it to the checkout counter, I felt pretty grateful nothing more serious had happened. I couldn't wait to get out of there and away from all those "Can't you control your child?!" glares.

Ella was right next to me (I know this, because she was hiding behind my leg because the lady in line behind us was trying to talk to her) and I turned away for a second to hand the cashier my money. That's when I heard the lady gasp and say, "Oh, no!" I turn around and Ella is on the ground on her back with the cart pinned on top of her. Of course she let out a blood curdling scream and one of the other cashiers says, "I'll go get the manager! Do you think we need to call 911?" What? 911?! I scooped Ella up and, even though she was crying, she was already starting to calm a little bit. She wasn't bleeding and seemed more scared than anything. Before I knew it, the manager comes running and tells me an ambulance is on the way (!) and I need to just have a seat. After much discussion, I finally persuaded him to cancel the ambulance and reassured him I'd call the doctor if I needed to. I was thinking 'seriously, I'm not an idiot here' and Ella was not even crying by this point. She was looking at all these people like 'hey, what's the big deal?' Anyways, we had to fill out an accident report and state that I didn't blame Kohl's for my parental negligence (that's not what it said, but that's how I felt). I have never been so glad to get out of a place as I was at that moment!

Once we got in the truck, Ella seemed fine and was asking for a strawberry milkshake "to make my boo-boo feel better". Then, as all mothers do (I think), I started second guessing myself, wondering if maybe she had really gotten hurt and I was ignoring it. Then the ICU nurse in me starts thinking of all the things that could go wrong with closed head injuries and I worked myself into kind of a panic. I tried to call Chris to ask if he thought I should take her to the urgent care center (even though we were just there last week when she dislocated her elbow!), but he didn't answer. So, I ended up driving home to take the watch and wait approach. So far, she seems okay and spent the whole afternoon jumping around here. Of course when she started getting tired at naptime, part of me started questioning whether I should let her go to sleep and ended up keeping her awake an extra hour. Eventually, I figured I would let her sleep just a little bit and then wake her up and make sure she's okay. Do the rest of you moms do this to yourselves, too?!! I'm feel like I'm making myself crazy here. Anyways, that's the story of our day. Needless to say, I don't plan to revisit that particular Kohl's anytime soon.

4 comments:

The Utley Crew said...

Oh no! I am sure she is fine. And, yes...I make myself CRAZY with worry and should I have done this or that, etc. I think all moms do. When Abby was a little over a year old she fell out of a cart in Target (did a somersault over the side of it and landed square on her back on the floor). Talk about FREAKING out...well, you know me, so I am sure you can imagine.-ha! Like Ella, she was totally fine after a min. and I was still crying about it hrs. later when I would tell someone what happened. Anyways, I did just what you are doing...I just kept a close eye on her and she was fine...not even a bump or bruise. HUGS to you, too...I just love those days when you feel like you are offically OUT of the running for Mother of the Year!-ha! I hope she is doing just fine...I am sure she is. And, Ella-a milkshake always helps me feel better, too! :)

The Cantlons said...

Although I have not yet experienced this, I am sure I will at some point. I'm sure every mom feels like this at some point. You are a great mom, and I am sure Ella is fine. I hope Ella is feeling better. :)

A Whole New McAfee Crew said...

that story is hilarious! sam fell down the stairs when he was 11 months. i did the same thing....freaked out! he was fine but i still worried and worried. i know she'll be fine too. something to look back on and laugh!

The Utz Family said...

Same for us! Don't you just love the way everyone glares at you. Hannah triped once and when I went to help her she started screaming that I hurt her and this lady turned around and said what did you do!!...I thought for sure that CPS was on the way! Hope Ella is feeling better! :-)