Working hard or hardly sleeping and Middle Child breaks his head

Sunday can be a rough day for me. I'm torn between the need to prepare for the upcoming work week and the want to be with my family. I know that the more time that I spend preparing, the more time I should have with my family during the week. I also know that the time that I'm supposed to have with my family can easily be eaten away but last meeting meetings, unannounced visits for students and the daily grind of the job. I search for ways to make sure that I'm not missing my family and the fun that they are having while only sitting a few feet away doing paperwork.

It seems that the best answer is that I just have to spend more time working while the kids are asleep. It's the only time that is flexible in that way. I've cut out almost all TV watching, greatly reduced the amount of time that I'm on the computer for only fun and after work, making dinner, giving baths and helping with homework, I'm not left with much more to take away.

I've worked hard to make changes this year. I have really tried to make this the year of me. There are many ways that I have changed in a short amount of time. I'm happy with almost all of them. Now I'm torn again with another decision: Put the time into work of into sleep? It really needs to come down to work or sleep because there is no way that I can continue to not be with my family.

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The whole family went for a walk together yesterday. We were walking on the bicycle path close to our home. The sprinklers were on and we were holding hands and running through the water. Mr. Husband was in the lead. He was holding Little Girl and #1 son's hands. I was in the back holding hands with Middle Child.

We were having fun and laughing. Then Middle Child started to fall and because my hand was wet, I wasn't able to stop him. It was one of those falls that you watch in slow motion. Reaching as fast as I could but never fast enough to catch him in time. I watched as he arched his back and hit the pavement with the side of his head curved down. He looked at me and screamed.

I grabbed him and looked at the side of his head but there was too much blood and water to be able to tell how bad it was. I could either walk into the road to get out of the sprinklers, walk into the marsh to get out of the sprinklers or go back the way we came as fast as I safely could. I opted for wet and alligator free.

I yelled to Mr. Husband that there was blood and I walked as quickly as I safely could back to our home. As soon as we were out of the sprinklers, I checked his head. I knew that it was not a fatal wound but knew that he was still bleeding and it was hard to see how bad it was. I stripped his shirt off of him and used it as a compress on his head.

I got just inside the property line and saw a man getting inside his car. I walked up to him and told him that I know this is strange but I was out walking in the sprinklers and my son fell, hit his head and is now bleeding. I said that I know I'm close to home but please drive me there because the car is faster. He quickly came around and opened the passenger door. As we were pulling away from the curb, Mr. Husband and the other two were walking by. The man asked if that was my family. He wanted to know if they wanted to get in also. I said they were but that we should just keep driving.

We were home and out of the car in a minute. The poor guy that helped us was pretty freaked out but I didn't want to take time to make him feel better. I hope that I see him around the building sometime to thank him properly. Middle Child said thank you as we were getting out of the car. He's always Mr. Manners.

I got us inside and went straight to the kid bathroom. I stripped Middle Child of his clothing and wrapped him in his robe and checked his head. The bleeding had almost entirely stopped at that point and he was very calm. I walked him over to my bathroom and was cleaning the cut when Mr. Husband came in with the other kids.

We were all worried but concussion watch is a normal activity in this household. At least it is since Middle Child was born. The other two kids got to come in and visit so that they would believe that Middle Child was OK. He must have felt very loved by the attention but I promise that there are other ways to get it.

We all changed and curled up in the big bed to watch some Dr. Who on the computer. Mr. Husband on one side with Little Girl and #1 Son snuggled up. I on the other side with Middle Child and his ice pack. Family bliss.

His cut is just a tiny little red scab today. The bump went down with the ice and he actually cried more from today's accident than yesterday. But the story of the ice pack that was on his foot today is for a different night. And my doctor wants to know why my blood pressure would be high.