Qtips, ears and the ER

the title pretty much says it all.

L took a shower with B, was trying to clean out his ears with qtips, just like daddy and we ended up in the ER. The series of events though was a bit more hair-raising and I think took about 5 years off my life.

The boys always take showers. We started showering both of them at an early age and it just works best for us. No hanging over a tub trying to wash them, no puddles on the floor, just a quick and to the point wash. I am sure it has a lot to do with the fact that we only have 1 full bath on the main floor and the full bath downstairs is a shower only, so we all share a bathroom.

After the shower, I join everyone in the bathroom to dry the boys and put lotion on them. L got out first last night for some reason -- he usually stays in the tub and cleans up all the toys -- and as I was drying him off, R decided he had had enough of waiting and threw himself over the lip of the tub and onto his head on the tile floor. He doesn't even have a bruise this morning as a result, but seeing him shimmy his way out in the matter of 2 or 3 seconds was scary.

I grabbed him and wrapped him in a towel and tried to comfort him (my scream scared the crap outta both boys) and while I was walking around with him, calming him down, B moved onto the next stage of the shower routine and was cleaning his ears with Qtips (I KNOW -- stupid thing to do, but that is a battle I refuse to pick with my hubby when it comes to HIS ears). L of course wanted to do what his daddy was doing and he got his 2 qtips too.

Well then the normal sequence of events changed. What NORMALLY happens is B takes L to his room and gets him dressed in PJs and I take R to his room and do the same. Last night, B's work phone rang and B went to our room to get it.

L went chasing after him.

With the qtips still in his ears.

And right into my leg where I was standing in the hall calming R. The Qtip was instantly jammed into his ear and he ripped at it to pull it out. The amount of blood that followed was surprising. I instantly put R down and grabbed for L and probably said something along the lines of THIS IS EXACTLY WHY YOU AREN'T SUPPOSED TO USE QTIPS in B's general direction -- although he was on the phone.

Some screaming from me for B to get his ass OFF the phone and come here RIGHT NOW insued.

Within 15 minutes, L and I were at the hospital and within a hour of that we found out that he didn't puncture his eardrum but took a gash out of the ear canal. There is blood coating the eardrum, so the dr thinks it is also scratched, but we won't be able to tell that until some of the blood clears.

Even after the cleaned the dried blood off his ear an hour later, it was still bleeding.

Oh-- and the kicker to this, because you know it has to be all about me -- I accepted a job offer while sitting in the waiting room of the ER. Not something you are likely to ever forget, huh?