If your kids are real, live oxygen-breathing kids and not robots, they will find creative ways to destroy their bodies.
And more to the point, they’ll find creative ways to destroy their bodies at inopportune times.
For instance, two years ago our oldest child gashed her eyelid just as we were putting the finishing touches on a nice long weekend – in the mountains an hour out of town. Not to be outdone, our son split his head open this past Christmas Eve.
If your number hasn’t been called yet, just wait. It’s coming.
For that reason, I want to share with you a little nugget of parent wisdom that we (following the example of our kids apparently) stumbled into accidentally:
Buy red washcloths.
The reason you need to do this is because when your child knocks a tooth out or gashes his head or nearly severs his finger or skins his knee or whatever it is, there will be blood. And if there’s one thing I’ve noticed about kids, it’s that they’re not soothed by the sight of their own blood.
That’s why it’s so hard to settle the kid down when you try to stop a bleeding wound with a clean kitchen towel or white washcloth – because every time you pull the cloth away to have a look, the kid is thinks the place looks more and more like a crime scene.
Enter the red washcloth.
The red washcloths are stored in a central location away from everyday use. They go with the bandages and neosporin.
The red washcloth allows you to keep the wound covered without the kid noticing that it’s wicking away any gore. Only a really sharp kid can see his own blood on a red washcloth.
When your child is hurt, there are enough variables to contend with already, so keeping him/her from freaking out about seeing their own blood will help tremendously. Try the red washcloth.
What learned-in-the-trenches first aid hacks do you have to share?
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