A Christmas Catastophe…

almost. My heart is still pounding a bit faster than normal. I didn’t realize that this mattered to me so much. I estimate that I avoided a Christmas catastrophe by less than ten seconds. I have been replaying the final scene in my mind over and over again. It was so close to going so wrong.

The last two years I have been given the task of taking Santa toys to the office and wrapping them there. Today was the day for this transportation to occur. I packed them up this morning before the boys woke up. I drove to work (a rare occurance but I would look a bit strange pedaling down the street with a big bag of toys on my back). The only problem was I forgot to take all of the stuff out of the van when I got to work. Oops. That problem was compounded by the fact that I was supposed to go home a little early for lunch to take Daniel to the store to get a present for Sammy. You can all see where this is going. I pull up to the house, the boys are out front playing with Suzy. Daniel sees me, and starts heading for the van. I shut the car off and look behind me to see which side Daniel’s car seat is on. OH NO! PRESENTS EVERYWHERE! ABORT! ABORT! ABORT! I quickly jump out of the car to head Daniel off and say I changed my mind. Suzy, naturally being very confused, starts asking why. I mumble and mumble and finally get her aside to say the problem. Yikes. That was a close one. The boys, sensed something was wrong, but were distracted with playing. I asked Daniel if I could take him to the store before dinner tonight. I bet you all can guess the first thing I did after getting to the office.

On the tenth day of Christmas...

...Daniel gave to me one blaaaack eye.

Yep, Daniel gave me my first shiner and let me tell you it hurt real bad, still does.

No, Daniel didn't punch me or hit me, well actually he did hit me, just it was with his big head.

Daniel and I have a nighttime routine. After Dan has finished reading bedtime stories I go into Daniel's room to read him some poems and tuck him in bed. Daniel likes to hide under the covers before I come into his room so he can surprise me. Do you see where this is heading? So, Sunday night I head into Daniel's room as scheduled and do my 'Where could Daniel be?' routine. Only this time when I bend over to peel back the covers Daniel decides to jump up from the bed. Big head smashes into right cheekbone. I knew it was bad when I finally opened my eyes and realized the bump was interfering with my line of vision.

I was hoping against hope that I wouldn't get a black eye, it being the holidays and having parties and lots of pictures taken, but sure enough Monday morning I was sporting a holiday shiner. This year I wanted to do a family shot for our Christmas card. So if I look a little strange in the picture, and you finding yourself wondering if maybe my makeup smeared or something, just remember it is just the black eye Daniel gave me on the tenth day of Christmas.

Instant Action Dad

Knock, knock, knock. You spring out of bed. Actually, I lie there for a few seconds to see if Suzy moves around. No such luck. I roll out of bed and manage to make my way to Daniel's room.
'Hey, buddy, what do you need?'
'I had a bad dream.'
'Okay, let me tuck you in.'
I tuck him in, and calm him down and he is asleep before I leave the room. You never know what kind of situation you are in for as a parent. You could be sleeping blissfully and the next moment you are called upon to perform some heroic deed. A few nights ago Daniel was having a coughing attack that he couldn't calm down from. I sat there, rubbed his back, told him it would be okay and he fell back asleep.
A few months ago, early in the morning I heard Sammy having a problem. At the time I was worried about him not being quick enough getting to the bathroom, so I hustled out there to see what was wrong. Mind you it was probably 6 AM, and I was fully asleep. You go from REM to Instant Action mode. With Sammy the circumstances are usually... interesting. This particular morning Sammy was saying something about a lego, and his nose. A combination that led to an immediate soberness on my part. I plopped him up on the bathroom counter, told him to sit there and not move (good luck with that one). I went to find the tweezers (a tool that as a parent I use fairly regularly). I came back to find that Sammy had listened well and was sitting just where I told him too. I peered up the nose and sure enough I saw the culprit. A tiny little lego, red if I recall correctly. I am pretty sure it is one the smallest lego pieces they make. Well, all you can do is try. Up the nostril the tweezers went and after a few misses I snagged that sucker and saved the day. Another crisis averted for Instant Action Dad.
What will my super powers be called on for tonight? Stay tuned kids, and don't forget to drink your Ovaltine!