So my daughter got into a bicycle accident at a friend’s house. I was almost there. Almost. There. I got a call from a number I didn’t know while standing on the porch of her friend’s house. Now, be warned. We have rules at our house. What do you get when you have a military raised dad and a teacher mama? You get a few rules. Wear closed toe shows at all times when riding a bicycle. Wear a helmet. Simple enough.
What do you get when you go to a friend’s house with perhaps not the same kind of rules. You get a phone call. On the porch. Then they said come in and your child is bloody. Not cool. I tried really hard to be cool. But I was so not cool. I was way beyond not cool. I was furious. Furious at this other momma for letting my child get hurt on her watch because my child rode her daughter’s bike without closed toe shoes and a helmet. Furious at my child for forgetting our rules at another person’s house. Furious at the blood. Furious at the toenail that was no longer on her foot. And furious I had to do this alone because my husband was in a class all day.
It was all perfectly rational in my head. But at that moment, all I could do was be calm. I could only say “What happened?”, and thank you. I’ve got it from here. We never let her ride a bike without a helmet and closed toe shoes so I am taking her to urgent care. Thank you. I think I did a pretty good job of being cool.
She knew I was mad. My daughter knew I was mad. But mostly I was worried. Upset and worried. I could not let that show through because there was so much blood. When it was all said and done, my daughter’s knees were torn up. One so bad I could hardly look at it. Her toes were all damaged on her right foot and she was missing a toenail. I hope you can read this…sorry. But you have to know. Please, please, please understand that if anything happened to another person’s child at my house I would never forgive myself. So I had to calm down.
The momma called me later and I said, it’s ok. She knew better. She did. She was upset as well, so I felt better. I also felt better knowing the momma was going to buy helmets for all 4 of her little children. How did they not have them already? I have no idea. So I extended grace because I needed to come at this from a place of mutual understanding. She did not want my child to get hurt. I know this. I know how I would feel; however, she did need to remember that wearing a helmet is a law for a reason. So maybe I saved her children’s lives. I don’t know. All I know is I had to be calm. Look at my hurt child. And tell her it’s going to be okay. She’s going to have one heck of a scar on her knee, but we all have scars. They help us remember.
