My little Wild Man!

This is what happens when you live with a miniature Evil Kneivel. Actually, I imagine that Mr. Kneivel must have acted something like my little guy when he was six. I've heard rumors that he set himself on fire at age four....please, no one tell Graham that - the firework incident on New Year's Eve was as close to that as I would like to experience, thankyouverymuch....but, I digress.

This past Wednesday afternoon, the kids had their tennis lesson. Graham's lesson was for an hour and the second hour Joshua and his group play more tennis and Graham plays with his friends in the area around the courts. Us moms use this rare, quiet opportunity to solve all the world's problems in our little circle around the tables. It is a wonderful respite of fresh air and sunshine. Occasionally, this respite is broken by the piercing cry of someone who is hurt or angry. Wednesday, there was no piercing cry. Just Graham, calmly walking up to me saying, "Mom, my head hurts." Notice....he said this calmly, much the way you might say, "the sky is blue."

Barely looking at him, I respond, as good mother's do, "Well, honey, did you hit your head?"

Mumbling something unintelligible, he shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, if you are ok, go on and play then." I say.

"Ok," he answers and turns to walk away.

One of the other moms says, in that edgy voice, the one you use when you can't quite believe what you see. "Shelby, he's bleeding."

Still not really alarmed, after all, "blood" is Graham's middle name, I glance up to see that there is blood running down the back of his head, already thickly matted in his hair, and dripping down his neck and onto the back of his shirt! Yep, he's bleeding alright!

Now I am at attention! I jump up to try to find the source. I parted his hair, coating my hands with the blood in the process and see that there is a pretty good sized gash in the back of his head. It wasn't very deep, but pretty wide and gaping and of course because it is on the head, it is bleeding pretty profusely. Now I am not one of panic just because there is blood. Anyone who knows me knows that I am quite a worrier, but I choose to worry over the things that are not quite so obvious. The lumps, bumps, and pains of unknown origin are the things that send me into hysterics. Cut the head, bleed a lot, get stitches....I am ok with this.

A damp cloth to his head stopped the bleeding pretty quickly and I asked him what happened. It seems that he and a little friend were throwing bricks and Graham's head apparently did not get out of the way! You may wonder why they were throwing bricks and where their adult supervision was. Well, as I have already told you, I was sitting in the sun talking to my friends - I'm being honest here. As for why they were throwing bricks, we are talking about two little boys, ages five and six - I didn't even ask. Please note, Graham has not cried even ONE tear yet. However, upon hearing that he needed to go to the hospital for stitches, he completely had a melt down!

I decided that on the way to the hospital we would stop by our alternative physician's office for some arnica, which is a homeopathic treatment for bruises and swelling. We ran in for her to have a look at his head and she gave him some arnica and another treatment called "Rescue Remedy." The rescue remedy is a treatment for those times when you just are feeling a little out of control. The thought of the hospital was making Graham feel a little out of control, and he was screaming at the top of his lungs - not in pain, but in anger because he had to go to the hospital. The rescue remedy was amazing, within minutes he calmed down and we headed to the ER.

It was a quick trip, complete with a special visit from the Administrative Staff, since we were at an HMA hospital - and within the hour Graham had three staples in the back of his head and he was happily eating a blow pop! The only issue I can take with the visit was that just before we left, the doctor on call, who I had not seen the entire time we were there came into the room, not to look at Graham, no...to tell me that I should not give my children homeopathic treatments because they contain alcohol. Those of you who know me, know that doctors and I usually don't hit it off too well, because I love alternative remedies and not only that, I know for a fact that they work, and most doctors do not love alternative remedies. Especially when they are not the ones to administer them! Anyway, I did not make any snide remarks to this lady, nor did I try to sell her on the use of homeopathics. I smiled, thanked her for being concerned about the welfare of my son, and we left.

For the record, most homeopathics come in the form of a small, chewable, pellet that tastes like sugar and they do not contain any alcohol. Some, like the aforementioned "Rescue Remedy" do come in a tincture form and they are mixed in a base of alcohol or glycerin. I gave Graham 4 drops of the remedy, so I am thinking that it was the relaxing herb it contained that made him calm down and not the alcohol!

Anyway, he left the hospital all put back together and he has had no pain and no medication at all since then. I asked him later if it hurt when he was hit in the head with a brick and my little dare devil said, "No, not really."

We have always known that Graham did not have normal pain receptors - now we are sure of it. We pray daily for the wisdom to raise a little guy who feels no pain! We are convinced that whatever God leads him to do will be dangerous and painful -- the cry of our hearts is that it has Kingdom significance!

If you feel led, we also would appreciate prayers that the staples come out as easily as they went in. All that matted hair and dried blood looks pretty painful to me. We do have a good friend, a doctor (one that I actually really, really like) who has agreed to take them out for us so that Graham doesn't have to go back to the hospital. Thanks, Dr. Mike! We love you!