Accident Prone

From the beginning, my girls have been little monkeys. They love to climb and explore and test the limits of their physical skills. Clearly imprinted on my brain is the image of the skinny little leg of an 18 month old Chloe sticking out of some tall playground equipment as she contemplated whether or not she could leap from that height. I learned to stay back and let them explore. The only times Chloe ever got hurt were when other people interfered and "helped" her. I learned one caveat to that rule on our trip to Disneyland this last week. When my girls get tired, they get very, very accident prone.

Despite our best efforts to keep the girls well rested during our trip, there is just too much excitement at Disneyland. The third night we were there, we stopped in at the Golden Horseshoe and caught the Billy Hill and the Hillbillies show. After the show, I got in line for dinner. While paying for my food, Addie was monkeying around on the rope barriers. Suddenly, there was a huge crash as she fell from the ropes, and the back of her head connected with the brass base of the pole. I'm pretty sure everyone in the restaurant heard it as I scrambled to collect her, and Chloe and get my card and receipt from the cashier who was frantically waving it at me as if it was the most important piece of business going on right then.

I got Addie calmed down and we ate our dinner. We started cleaning up and getting ready to go. Out of the corner of my eye, I registered that Chloe was rocking in her chair, seconds before it crashed to the ground and she smacked the back of her head. It didn't make nearly the sound Addie's did--hard wood doesn't reverberate like hollow brass--but her shrieks of pain and shock more than made up for it. We immediately packed up and headed back to the hotel for the night.

The next day, we played at Disneyland and played at the beach, and all the girls got naps. It soon became obvious that the naps were not long enough. After dinner that night, and before bedtime, we headed back to the park for a couple more rides. In the line for the first ride, Chloe suddenly started crying and I looked to find blood pouring from her bottom lip. Apparently, she took the name of the ride, Heimlich's Chew Chew Train, quite literally. After I refused a trip to First Aid for her, she got the consolation prize of an "Official Citizen of Disneyland" button. So, blood=citizenship. Remember that one folks.

We rode the ride, then went to the next one. While waiting to ride Flick's Flyers, the kids were again climbing on the line barriers. And suddenly, there was another one down. Addie was flat on her back, another near miss concussion. After the ride (no matter how severe the injury, we can't skip the ride!), we immediately headed back to the hotel.

In all, we spent 5 fun filled days at Disneyland. We got home from the park yesterday, and as I was unloading and unpacking the car, I thought about the fun that we'd had and the new information I had about my girls' limits. I wondered just where they got this exhaustion fueled attraction to disaster from. Then, as I opened it, I smacked myself hard in the face with the car door.

I wonder how many naps I will need to take before the knot on my forehead goes down?