Bubble Wrap, Anyone?

I do wonder where a person, more specifically a mom, can find bubble wrap big enough to wrap kids up with?  Hmm... It's a question for sure.

Why do you ask, do I need bubble wrap?  Well, it seems we're not going to make it through the summer without it.  It all started a few weeks ago, when Owen fell on the sidewalk and scraped the side of his face up (see early May blog).  And, by the way, it's still not completely healed. 

Then, a few days later, he and Anna come running up to the front yard from the back.  He's holding his ear and screaming.  Anna's screaming at me too.  I see Owen's hand and there's blood running through his fingers and down the side of his head.  Finally, he let us see it and he had cut his head open.  Evidently, he was running, tripped and fell onto the wooden bench that goes with our outdoor play set.  Unfortunately, someone had turned the bench over earlier, so his head hit the corner of one of the feet.  We all know how much head wounds bleed, but it is so sobering when it's your kid bleeding.  Luckily,  we put ice on it and were able to get it all cleaned up without needing to go the E.R. for stitches. 

Did it stop there?? Oh no!! A few weeks ago, we went to a neighborhood park to play with friends and next thing you know, Owen looks like he got bitten by some bugs.  Next day, completely covered with hives... yep, hives... Took him to the doctor a couple of days later, they tested his blood and nothing... he's a healthy boy with hives.  They said there were some viruses going around that were causing hives after the virus was gone.  They assured me he wasn't contagious and if it got itchy (it hasn't been) or bothersome, give him some Benedryl or liquid Zyrtec.  The hives didn't get any better, if anything they got worse as the weekend began, so we picked up liquid Zyrtec.  When he's taking the Zyrtec, the hives almost disappear.  We're supposed to have him stop taking it for a day every few days to see if they come back.  Yep, they're still here.

I bet you're thinking, boy, Anna has gotten off easy this year!  Well, that was before today.  She got home from Living History Farms camp (her favorite) with a band aid on her knee.  My friend, whom we've been carpooling with, said that the counselor had said she'd fallen down and cut it on a rock.  However, they weren't able to clean it at the time.  I had Anna get in the bath right away to see if we could clean it.  We used peroxide, much to her dismay.  It wouldn't come clean and it just looked deep.  I called their doctor and they gave me some tips, but told me to take her in if it didn't stop bleeding. 

After dinner we looked at it again and just thought we better take her to the doctor.  So, we hopped in the car and took her to urgent care.  She was super excited to hear that she didn't need a tetanus shot and even more excited when they said they would glue her cut shut rather than get stitches.  She even was brave enough to talk the doctor into giving her the go ahead to go down the creek tomorrow as long as she protects her knee and her knee doesn't stay wet.  We can put a band aid and tape over it to keep it protected while she's at camp.  No swimming for 5-7 days and she'll be as good as new.  It shouldn't even scar!!  She truly had a smile on her face as she was walking out because 'creek' day at camp is her all time favorite of favorite things to do.  She looks forward to it all year long... She actually does.

If only bubble wrap were the answer it would definitely be an easier life.  However, we all know, kids will be kids and we can't protect them from everything.  Praying that this is the worst of it this summer!!