Burn centers are not fun

I love camping. I grew up camping with my family and some of my favorite memories were camping in the Rockies.

Taking 5 kids camping is a lot different than one or two kids camping.

Being that, under the best of circumstances we have zone defense as opposed to a man on man plan. Sometimes, zone defense leaves someone unprotected.

Henry grabbed a hot lantern and was burned.

For as bad of a burn as it was, he wasn't hysterical for the majority of the time.  He cried and said "Ow. Ow" but he was very calm for the vast majority of the time.

For the first time I was thankful that my kids had been squabbling before we left as we had a bag of half melted ice in cool water and clean paper towels. I put paper towels over his burn and put the cool pack on it and set off for the hospital.

Henry was so brave.  He did have to be sedated to have the burn cleaned, and he hated it.  He couldn't figure out how to work his legs.

After the fuss of getting his burn cleaned and dressed he earned a prize.  A dinosaur, he immediately turned it over and showed me where it pooped from. 

Finally, we were allowed to go home, with a recheck at the burn clinic two days later.  In the interim I had to apply cream, clean, and bandage the burn.  He was given prescription oral pain medicine, but he only needed it for 3 days- after that he went to regular over the counter stuff.

The re-check was great.  His burn looked great. We didn't have to go back for a whole week.

Mom Superpowers

Growing a person is a miracle and superpower in an of itself.   Delivering that person (or persons) is also HUGE (I mean really- have you ever been through it? Or have you watched it? Its amazing)

Moms also make milk that is the perfect food.  It is specially formulated for the age the baby (or toddler) is.  It changes according to the time of day, what illnesses you (and child) have been exposed to, it takes on the flavors of the food mama ate so baby can be exposed to different flavors. 

The whole lactation thing is amazing. 

Moms often have a "mama gut" I can tell when my kids are sick and when it is more than just a cold.  Something just seems off.  My kids get a 'sick smell' I swear, there is a definite smell when my kids are sick.  I can also tell if my kids are really injured or if everything will be fine.

I do lack x-ray vision.  The other day, Pixie was feeding the horses apples.  One of the horses accidentally bit her. She screamed and cried so much! The poor horse felt so sorry! He was really upset. 

After cleaning out the owie out- she still wasn't calming down the way I would normally expect her too.  This is the child who didn't cry when she got stitches in her head after running into the table.  I tried to convince myself it was just the first time she had ever been hurt by an animal and she was really upset. A little voice in my head was needling me that something was just off. We went to the ER to be safe.  I called B and told him what was happening.  He asked "Is it broken?".  WHY WOULD HE ASK THAT? I mean really.  Her bone was still inside her skin... there was no obvious deformity--- it just was not quite right.

I took 5 kids to the ER alone and after an incredibly brief visit-  we were on the way home.  Pixie had a small chip in her bone. 

Another super power I have is knowing the location of almost everything.  No one looks for things- they just ask me... "Mama have you seen xyz?" most of the time I can give a very detailed description of its location.  Sometimes I can't there are 5 kids and one of me.  The odds are never in my favor.


What super powers does the mama have in your house?