Not for the feint hearted..

So, I have to tell you, yesterday wasn't one of the best days of my life. It started with the usual early alarm call, accompanied by a mild hangover and horrendous period pain.
That was nothing. At 11.30 there was a resounding thud from the lounge, followed by wailing. Herbie doesn't generally cry, so I knew it was bad. Turned out he'd fallen on the coffee table and had what the hospital later termed 'a laceration to the lip'. Part of it was hanging off like a bit of gristle and there was alot of blood. A very lot. I could lie and tell you that I'm a supremely practical mother and that I handled things with the utmost cool, but actually I struggled to hold it together. I didn't freak out but I could have done so much better. I also felt incredibly guilty.
Anyway to cut very long story short, the little man was finally taken into theatre to have 6 stitches at 8pm (we arrived at the hospital at 1pm), he hadn't been allowed food or drink in all that time, and frankly, we'd all had enough. Plus because it was so late, Herbie and I had to stay overnight, which is never an attractive option. But since visiting my dad in a Barbados hospital 3 years ago, I swore I would never criticise the NHS again, so I won't go on about it.

Anyway... we returned home at about 10am this morning, starving hungry and me feeling terribly dirty (couldn't ever do Glastonbury, need to wash my hair every day!) Herbie is fine. He's a bit bruised and very swollen, and he'll no doubt be left with a scar, but he's his usual chirpy self. I'd like to think that the experience had made him a little more cautious, but this afternoon he was caught attempting to follow Steve up a 15 ft ladder. Sigh- methinks this won't be the last incident of it's kind...

Finally I have to say a huge' Thank You' to my good friend Nina, who kindly picked up Buddy from school, fed him, looked after him and put him to bed alongside her own 2 children, until Steve was able to get there late last night. She'd probably wanted to go bed herself, so again thank you Nina, you're one in a million and I owe you (yet another) one.