Bruised Noggin

So Ava was running laps at school today and she ended up getting all tangled up somehow and falling backwards onto her head.

She has always been a touch clumsy...we don't call her "Grace" for nothing! But she hit her head pretty hard today and she wasn't able to tell the teacher how many fingers were being held up in front of her, she felt sick, and her eyes were not quite right. The school called me and I headed over, and on the way I spoke to her Pediatrician, who told me to take her straight to the hospital.

My mom was kind enough to take the babies so I could get Ava there without distractions, and she was definitely out of it on the way. She said her legs were trembling too much to walk, so the valet at the emergency room wheeled her into the ER in a super fancy Ava sized wheel chair. I had been texting her dad updates, and apparently I worried him inadvertently, because before long he came barreling through the doors to check her out for himself.

Ava was still definitely not herself, and she just curled up in her fancy wheels while we waited. She just kept saying "I wish this wasn't happening." in this super said voice. Eventually, we were called back to a room, and as Ava stretched out on the narrow cot and looked around, realizing she was queen of the castle, so to speak, I could see her start to feel like herself again. A few minutes later she realized that she was the only child in attendance and she had both of her parents by her side, and she started to get a little punchy. With four kids, one on one attention is hard to come by, and she was a little drunk on the unexpected fortune.

When the doctor came in to talk to her, she asked Ava how she was feeling.

"Well..." She said slowly, looking at the doctor seriously. "I am a little nervous."

John and I looked at each other and cracked up laughing, covering our mouths with our hands. Leave it to my kid to start discussing her feelings with the doctor instead of answering the questions about the reason she was there...that little old head injury. The doctor nodded understandingly and then tried again.

"Okay...well, what about your head? Does that hurt at all?" Ava considered the question.

"My head? Not really. But I'm pretty hungry. Can you do anything about that?"

Then she burst out laughing like she'd just told a hilarious joke, looking at John and me to see if we were laughing too.  Then she sobered and looked at me.

"Seriously, though...I'm starving."

Oh, six year olds. Most of them, or at least mine, seem to have a very questionable sense of humor, which is only exacerbated by a mild concussion. She is a trip, to say the least. The doctor obviously did not have children and did not think the randomness of kids' jokes were at all entertaining.

I probably won't think so when I'm following doctor's orders and waking her up every two hours tonight to make sure she's doing alright. Maybe when we're up I'll be able to teach her the proper set up and follow through for a joke.