I saw it happen.
His chin smashed right into the edge of the pool.
He wailed, which is a good sign. When they are "really" hurting, they don't even cry.
I checked his jaw. Did it clench too tight? Nope, fine.
His tongue and lips. Did he bite them? Nope, all good.
His teeth. Are they bleeding? All still there, no blood.
Under his chin. White subcutaneous tissue.
Oh oh.
I closed the cut and applied pressure , while I instructed the oldest to call grandpa, and middle child to get out of the pool, and gather our stuff.
She didn't listen.
"GET OUT OF THE FUCKING POOL RIGHT NOW AND GET YOUR MOTHER FUCKING SHIT YOU FUCKING LITTLE GIRL!!!"
Was what I saw myself screaming, but in a fleeting reality that didn't happen.
I was too involved in holding the chin together and trying to get the boy to stop screaming. "Handsome, it will hurt less if you stop moving your jaw."
The oldest came back with grandpa on the phone. "No one is seriously hurt but you still have to drive me to the ER."
I walked the boy upstairs, gave him a paper towel, and had him tilt his chin and hold.
My parents came, I was already in the car sitting, next to my son who was already buckled in, with the GPS set and ready to go.
We got to the ER. I stood for a few minutes carrying my kid. Got seen by a nurse and assistant. Two younger guys who started exchanging stories about when they fell in the pool and cracked/bit/bled. And they laughed.
And I relaxed.
Image by And my son. Who had become very serious when he realized that crying made his wound hurt more, just stared at them.
They took me straight to an (empty) triage room, where I finally took the time to get the boy out of his wet swim clothes. My oldest, bless her helpfulness, had gathered dry clothes and a blanket for her brother.
My son was being very serious. Very quiet.
He got his wound cleaned, a shot of numbing medicine straight into the heart of the cut, five stitches, and one bandaid. Through all this, my son, who usually cries for exercise, said, "oh oh." No crying. No complaining.
And hopefully that is how he learned to be more careful in the pool and get better at measuring his distance.
