Whack you head Wednesday - a "day in the life" story.

Here is a bit of sweet girl drama. It is quite long, but bear with me.

Yesterday, Jackie was back to her regular "cry for no good reason until I've eaten breakfast" self. The no good reason selected: she couldn't remember me giving her "fresh water" in her sippy cup the night before.

She wasn't thirsty. She wasn't worried she would get an incurable illness from drinking day old water. She was just offended that I had forgotten to perform an important part of her bed time ritual. Her offense was real, even if it took her 12 hours to notice. The irony of the story is that - yes - you guessed it- I HAD given her fresh water the night before. What's more, knowing she would be upset if she was unsure of the freshness of her water, I had made a big point of showing her the ice and telling her that her water was new. (As I write this, I am beginning to understand my husbands hostility towards the "fresh water fetish" the older girls have - they really aren't that diva about other things).

Like a fool, I broke one of my cardinal rules for parenting: NEVER ARGUE WITH A HUNGRY CHILD UNLESS IT IS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY. ( This also is my rule for my husband, and one I think should be applied to everyone on my side of the family - especially me. How can anyone be expected to act rationally on an empty stomach?) I reminded her that I did get her the water. What was worse, her sister Alice corroborated my story. Not only was she offended, now she was betrayed. I will not describe her reaction, for I can not do justice to the combination of screaming and tears, but I will say that it landed her in her room - without the all important breakfast that might bring out better spirits. Now, do not judge me too soon, I did try to get her to take her sippy cup of milk with her - but she refused. I don't know where she gets her stubbornness from.

Alice, always the peace maker, decided that she would try to help her sister be happy. The best way was to make her laugh. But how to go about this? Clearly any verbal humour would be difficult to hear over the racket of the tantrum. Alice opted to follow the example of her favourite comic Mr. Bean, and tried some physical humour. She started pretending to bang her head against the door frame. I was reminded of my brother Greg, who when he was ten couldn't walk down Bonnie Doon Mall without pretending to bang his head on every pillar. Alice's performance was great, and Jackie was soon laughing through her tears. Another victory for comedy.

It looked like so much fun,in fact, that Evie wanted to try. That's were the story gets a little sad. I can still see her running full tilt at that door frame. I could see what was going to happen, but could not get to her in time. She rammed the door frame with everything she had. Ouch. A hard way to learn the difference between pretending to bump you head, and actually bumping your head. Here she is standing beside a door frame like the one she hit,during happier times.

But these head hurting escapades were but foreshadowing for some all too real noggin nocking. We went to Value Village last night to try to find some pants for Alice and some Christmas decorations for the basement. While I was chasing Evie (who is no longer fond of the cart) Jackie was uncontrollably drawn to the bars corralling the shopping carts. She had been warned to stay off, but like Princess Aurora drawn to the spindle, she couldn't stop herself. While she was playing on the bars, she fell backward and hit her head on the floor, causing a very minor, yet still very bloody, head wound. It is always so hard when your child get's hurt. It sure was not fun to have it happen in a store full of unhelpful stangers, and trying to help her while keeping tabs on your two other children. After some time in the bathroom washing up, signing an accident incident report, and buying a Christmas candle holder for Jackie and a Christmas dress for Alice we made it home. Jackie had a bath to calm her nerves and wash the blood out of her hair (though we didn't tell her about that). While she was in the tub, Alice and I, who were both able to keep it together at the store and on the way home, almost starting crying and began feeling queasy again as we talked about how upsetting it was. We agreed that it was lucky that Jackie hurt the back of her head, instead of the front, because, "at least she didn't have to see all that blood". I am making a prediction now: Alice will not become a nurse.

Since I didn't see how hard Jackie bumped her head, I woke her up every four hours just in case she had a concussion. It is not the first time I have had to do that for Jackie. I imagine it won't be the last.

This morning she was fine. She had no headache, minimal mood issues, and was still clearly in love with the Christmas candle holder. She brought it to school for show and tell.

So, that is the tale of Head Whacking Wednesday. Just another day in the life.