Monday Funday

Yeah, today was anything but fun. It all began when Mommy had the brilliant idea of taking the kids shoe shopping. Nicholas has decent shoes already, but they're looking a little snug, so I thought it might be time to measure his feet. Also, I had a few things to get at the store, so I was planning to stop by Wal-Mart as well. We all got ready and piled into the car.

Shoe shopping was...interesting. The boys were semi-well-behaved, but not enough to suit me, so we decided they didn't need new shoes today (although, sure enough, Nicholas has outgrown his). We'll go back another time with reinforcements. The Wal-Mart trip was also cut very short. My oldest child decided to issue an order for Mommy to go buy him some toys. Mommy informed him that we weren't there to buy toys, and that it wasn't his place to tell Mommy what to do. "We don't speak to grown-ups that way, son." He continued the whining, so we all left without buying anything (and without picking up my paid-for pictures that have been sitting there since Saturday). Sorry, but I'm not going to allow my children to act that way.

As if I weren't in a bad enough mood already, I decided that today would be a good day for a minor emergency. Don't stress...the kids are fine. After I got the munchkins all situated in their seats and everyone was buckled in, I climbed out of the back of the Suburban and slammed the door...right on my thumb. HARD. I had to re-open the door to get my thumb out. I can't even describe the pain that shot through my hand and up my arm. I got into my seat, closed the door and started crying. Of course, the boys were freaking out. "What happened, Mama?! What's wrong?!" I held up my arm for them to see, and blood was running down to my elbow. I was afraid to look, so I just started driving home. I'm glad I didn't have a wreck, because I was crying so hard I couldn't see, and I was hurting so badly I couldn't think.

Once I got home, I realized that there was a good possibility that my thumb was broken. It was swollen to twice its normal size, and my nail and the back of my thumb were turning purple. I washed off the blood and saw that my nail had split from my finger at the top. It hurt like crazy. I called Nathan, who came home to watch the kids, and I went to the ER.

Luckily for me, no one else decided to have an emergency today, so I had the place to myself. After three x-rays (triple ouch) and a little poking and prodding, it was determined that my thumb is not broken. I was relieved. However, because of the swelling, additional examination wasn't possible, so the doctor wasn't sure of the extent of injury to the soft tissue. He said that it was very possible that I could have some ligament damage, but we'll just have to wait and see. A nurse came in to splint my thumb and wrap my hand (more ouch), and they sent me home with drugs.

Now I have The Incredible Hulk's thumb:

Cute, huh?

Good thing I'm already married.

Yeah, so I'm supposed to "completely rest" my hand and "take it easy" for a couple of days. I started snickering while they were giving the discharge instructions, because the doctor obviously hasn't visited my house. I'm really wondering how I'm going to lift and carry my daughter, wash dishes, fold laundry, and break up fights between two redheaded toddlers (and this is not a complete list) with only one usable hand. I also can't take the pain pills they gave me unless someone else is here to supervise the goobers. Oh, well...this should all provide some entertainment this week, anyway.

The lesson for all of you is that you definitely shouldn't slam the car door on your hand or any other body part. Heed my warning...it took a long time to type this. :)