Things I learned from a night in the ER *EDIT*

*****EDITED TO ADD pictures! And a video! Lucky you!*****

Here are the pictures of the famous injury. I promise--they're not gruesome. In fact, it probably looks much less serious that you would have thought, reading my description in the previous entry. Like I said, it was a small wound, but deep enough for a solitary stitch.



Don't mind the messy mouth--she was eating dinner when I snapped these shots.



And, totally unrelated to the whole ER visit... here's a video of Ari doing the sign for "more." If you don't know what it's supposed to look like, here's a picture....



So she's still a little clumsy at it, but hey, as an added bonus, now you get to see her wound in living color. Also, I don't know why she has her hands on her ears at the beginning--she just does that randomly. I try not to take it personally.



*****END EDIT*****

(This will make a lot more sense if you read the previous post first.)

The ER is nowhere near as exciting and fast-paced as it looks on TV.

Never underestimate how quickly your child will get bored of every toy in the room and want nothing else but to walk outside.

Never underestimate how well a cell phone can entertain a bored toddler.

Folding automatic doors can, if your child is standing in just the wrong place, hit your child in the head.

Which is not good when your child already has a head injury.

Doctors are looking younger and younger. (Or is it me that's getting older? Nah, can't be that...)

Even if you don't want to talk to anyone in the waiting room, you will be forced to, because your toddler will inevitably walk over and make herself quite at home with a stranger or two.

Expect that your partner will find the oddest, most mundane thing to fret over. (In Tony's case, it was worrying that the rails on the side of the bed would suddenly collapse under the power of a 1-year-old's might.)

The Disney Channel can--and will--repeat the exact same episode of the exact same show in the same night--within hours of each other.

Apparently, they made a 4th Beethoven movie. (The dog, not the composer. If you're confused--lucky you.)

Circumstances aside, kids look really funny with giant bandages on their heads.

At least one or two parents will spend their entire waiting time griping about the wait, about the incompetent hospital staff, about how they're going to sue the hospital if their child suddenly keels over in the waiting room, etc.

This can be quite entertaining. Especially when the only entertainment in sight is a measly pile of children's books and a TV with the volume turned too low to hear.

Apparently, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson guest-starred on an episode of Hannah Montana. Which included him dressing like a woman too. I will never look at him the same again.

When you haven't eaten in 10 hours, Goldfish can be the most delicious food in the world.

Waiting in the ER shows you what kind of person your child becomes when they stay up way past bedtime.

Sometimes something as simple as a fellow parent, stopping you on your way out the door to ask if your child is OK, can make your whole day.

My kid truly is the cutest kid in the world. Or at least, the cutest kid in the children's ER on Thursday, September 20 from 7 PM to 1 AM. I'll take that.