Now that the boys are training-wheel free and have spent much of the summer riding up and down our street on their bikes, it was only a matter of time before someone took a spill. The unlucky one this time was Garrett. As I started the process of baths (by far Chase's favorite part of the day), I heard Blake's urgent scream at the front door..."Mom, come here! Garrett's hurt...he's in the street!". I immediately jumped up, pulled the plug on the drain and ran out the front door with my heart pounding in my chest. I could hear Chase's screams of anger about the draining water from down the street, but he wasn't the one I was worried about. And I'm glad it didn't occur to me at the time that there could have been a car involved- I just assumed Garrett had fallen off his bike, which he had. He was a few houses down, sitting up just off the curb holding his mouth with both hands...and blood was everywhere. A concerned neighbor had already rushed over to help him. Fortunately, he was wearing his helmet. After determining that he hadn't broken any bones or a head injury, we made our way back home and to the frustrated, screaming almost-three year old sitting in and empty tub...and I was glad, for a moment, that I've learned to tune out tantrum cries over injury cries. (Chase was ultimately calmed by the humor of Blake dumping water on himself...while standing OUTside of the tub. One thing at a time...But no question that Blake deserves the Best Big Brother award all around on this one.)
From the best I could tell, most of the blood was coming from Garrett's mouth. And like the tough kid he can be, Garrett didn't cry or scream...he held it together courageously...at least until he saw himself in the mirror. It was then that I realized he chipped and cracked a front (adult) tooth and then reality of things hit him. We cleaned him up and miraculously the only injury he had was a punctured lip and some loose/chipped/cracked teeth. So, basically, he ate some asphalt. Could have been SO much worse.
Four days later you can hardly tell.
Remarkably, the dentist was able to temporarily repair his tooth and a soft diet is IN while sports are OUT for the next week or so. And time will tell if the root will heal or not. As for getting back on the bike? Once things heal we will cross the "get back up and try again" bridge we've all crossed at some point in our lives. For Garrett, I don't think eating asphalt will deter him for long...but maybe it will help him to slow down. And I'll be restocking the first aid kit just in case.
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