You Could Write a Book About That

Recently I shared a fun picture that I saw on Facebook (see below). One of my wife’s cousins replied with the comment, “you could write a book about that.” Since my wife and I have had primary childcare duties for our daughter’s four boys, we have had our share of incidents. So, while I may not have enough material to write a book, I thought it would be a good topic for a blog posting.

Here is a nice picture of these four grandsons sitting nicely in a row on the sofa. They are certainly not getting into trouble here. And for the most part they are good kids, follow instructions, and stay safe. But there are times . . . .

Climbing a Tree

In the spring of 2018, when Asher was only three, the four boys were playing together in the front yard. Living in the country and on a wooded lot, there are lots of trees, rocks, and dirt to play in/on – a great environment for four growing boys. I was in another part of the yard, but keeping my ears tuned to the play in the front yard. Suddenly, I heard one of the older boys calling out, “Asher’s stuck in a tree!”

I quickly ran to that part of the yard, to be greeted by the sight of Asher about 20’ up in one of the small pine trees. The lower branches were close enough to the ground that they could be reached by stepping off one of the nearby large rocks that we have in the area. Once getting on the lower branch, he just kept climbing from branch to branch. But he quickly got up two stories in the tree before the other boys noticed and they had called for my help.

What to do!? The tree was too small and the branches too flimsy to support my weight. And even if I had a handy ladder, the tree was not strong enough to lean the ladder against it at that height. And I couldn’t leave in case he fell while I went for help.

I positioned myself under him, so that if he fell I could catch him before he hit the ground – or worse yet the large rocks at the base of the tree. Yelling up to him, I told him that he’d have to start climbing down the same way he got up and that I would guide him from one branch to the next since climbing down to branches below you is much more difficult that climbing to ones that are above you where you can see them.

One foot at a time, one branch at a time, I slowly talked him down, all the while with my arms above me ready to catch him if need be. After an agonizing few minutes, he was finally low enough that I could reach him and have him let go so that I could take his weight and lower him safely to the ground.

I think I was more scared than he was! And I then gave all four boys a stern warning that they were never to climb a tree again unless I was there to oversee the activity. The tree is still there, and we have not had any further instances of climbing. Once was enough!

Getting Stuck

Isaiah is thin and wiry. And he’s also quite adventurous. He likes getting into small places. But sometimes he’s not able to get himself out the same way he got in. A few years ago, he was playing in the kitchen and at the time we had a large cooler on the floor next to the refrigerator. Somehow, he managed to stick his head into the opening in the handle of the cooler and pull it down to his shoulders. But then he couldn’t get it off the same way. As you can tell from the below picture, he was stuck – and not very happy about it.

We adults all had a bit of a laugh at the situation and took his picture before we set about getting him out of the predicament. Fortunately, by lifting up the cooler and having him put his face to the front so his chin wouldn’t catch he came out pretty easily. He didn’t do that again!

Getting Stuck (Again!)

As noted, Isaiah has a propensity for getting into small spaces. A few weeks ago the sheets on the bunkbed in the room that he and Ethan share were being washed and they had been told that they could put some new clean, fitted sheets on their mattresses. They figured that standing the mattresses on their side would make it easier to put on the fitted sheets. Isaiah decided to tackle the mattress on the top bunk. But doing so meant that the slats that hold up the mattress were exposed.

But as he was maneuvering around, he stepped through the opening between two of the slats. The opening was large enough that with downward pressure his foot went through but his calf would not fit. But upward tugs do not stretch the skin the same way and so he could not pull his foot out again. Once again – stuck!

Ethan ran to get me and I also tried to see if I could maneuver his foot into a position where it would come out – but I was not successful either. All the slats in this particular bunkbed are screwed onto the support rails to keep the spacing even. So I had Ethan go get me a tool box with a Phillips screwdriver. I took out the screw on one end of one of the two slats that Isaiah’s foot was between so that I could enlarge the opening and he could get his foot out. Problem solved – once again he knows to avoid that situation – and I finished the task of putting on the fitted sheets in a safer manner.

Loosing a Fingernail

A few weeks ago, as the boys were playing, Caleb managed to get his finger pinched in the bedroom door. It caught his finger about 2/3 of the way down the nail. Very quickly, that part of the nail turned a lovely shade of black-and-blue. Initially there was not much to do except put some ice on it to dull the pain – and of course use the miraculous power of a band-aid.

As the next few days went by, the nail remained that lovely shade, the band-aid disappeared, and life resumed. But the boys being what they are, and it being summer, they were involved in a lot of outdoor activities. Then one day Caleb came in crying because he’d been digging in the ground and he’d gotten a lot of dirt up under the fingernail. I flushed it out with water as best I could, then put two band-aids on it – one over the top to stop more dirt from getting under the nail, and a second one around the finger the hold the first one on. But then every few days the band-aids would come loose and he’d come to me for replacements. I could tell that he was likely to lose the fingernail before too long as there was a gap between the nail and the finger that ran almost the entire length of the fingernail.

Finally, while swimming in our pool this week, the band-aid came off once again and he came running to me saying, “my fingernail is coming off!” I checked and the nail had come loose at the bottom and it was being held on only at one corner by being under the cuticle. I knew he wouldn’t like it, but I grabbed the now flopping fingernail, gave it a quick tug, and pulled it the rest of the way off. After a few tears, he found that just holding it under water in the pool was comforting enough. Within ten minutes he was swimming again and having fun – just holding that finger up enough to avoid too much contact with anything.

At this point we’re not sure if the fingernail will grow back – or how long it will take if it does – but he’s doing fine with it. And he’s keeping it away from doors as they close. Boys! Such a challenge growing up!