The Coverup

Yesterday, we had a quiet afternoon.  After canning carrots (post coming soon) and making lunch, I sat down, akimbo, to read a book in my favorite chair while the kids watched Night at the Museum.  Dave promptly fell asleep on the couch.

After a while I realized just how quiet the house was.  Dave asleep? Check.  Kids watching tv? - uh....Jammin' watching tv but Buttercup missing.  I sat up and looked down the hallway and could hear water running.  Foolishly, I assumed Buttercup was going potty so turned my attention back to the book.

Suddenly, the missing child was standing in front of me.  I looked up at her cute little face and the world fell away.  Her blue eyes were sadder than a puppy.  Her bottom lip quivered with the onset of bawling; she was crestfallen.

"Buttercup,"  I asked, "What's wrong?"

She could no longer hold back the tears and they fled down her cheeks in a wave.  Bawling, she managed to stammer out, "I cu...uuut....ma....ay....fi...n...ger." 

With those words she held up two bloody hands.  My immediate "MOMMY MODE" went into full effect.  This is the mode where one is in almost full panic, but must assess the situation before completely freaking out. 

I grabbed her blood soaked hands and asked, "Where did you cut yourself?"

She held up her finger and I could see the tell-tale wound - a deep slice in the fleshy part of her index finger.  I felt a split-second of mortal peril panic and my heart about exploded from my chest.  Then, I relaxed.  This cut was not deep enough for a stitch - just a tight band-aid wrap should do the trick.

I picked her up, grapped a paper towel to put pressure on the wound, and headed for the bathroom. 

"Where are the band-aids?"  I asked aloud to myself, looking for the box.

"They are under the bed."  Buttercup answered, crying.  I looked at her, astonished.

"How did they get there?"

"I put them under the bed."  Buttercup's face shone with the pure angelic shine of a child telling the truth.

"Why did you put the Band-aids under the bed?" 

"Because I got blood on the box."

A-HA!   As I cleaned up the blood and wrapped her wound the complete truth came out.

For lunch I had sliced up a cucumber.  A third of this vegetable still lay on the cutting board in the kitchen right beside the knife.  Buttercup, trying to be the independent child that she is, decided to eat more cucumber so tried to cut it with the knife, and instead cut her finger.  Knowing she would be in trouble for using a sharp "Mommy Knife" she tried to hide the evidence, by getting a Band-Aid herself.  But when the blood became too much she had no choice but to find me.

After much consoling and hugging I asked Buttercup if she had learned a lesson.

"Yes."  She nodded, "Little girls shouldn't use Mommy Knives."

I agreed with her and added, "AND, when little girls hurt themselves, they need to let mommies know right away!"

Comments

[barngoddess]

awwww, she is precious!

we had a similar experience recently with mom's sharp scissors....scary even tho no serious injuries.

[gibnjen]

Poor sweet buttercup. I'm glad she didn't need stitches, and BOY do my kids know the allure of a cucumber. I had a warm, contented relaxed reading on the couch moment once, thinking how wonderful it was for the down time and my boys burned down my back yard and part of the neighbor's. I guess we can never turn the mommy radar off.

[mjd]

Oh no, I am glad that all is well. Hiding the band-aids under the bed, what a sweet, sweet girl you are raising Karmyn.

[beccy]

Poor buttercup but a lesson learnt.

[melissa]

Poor buttercup! Aw, I just want to smoosh her cheeks! :) I'm glad she wasn't hurt too badly. What a sweetheart.

[chrisb]

I'm so glad it wasn't too serious, but how sweet that buttercup tried to deal with it herself. Unfortunately she has now learnt the hard way not to use mommy knives.

[Amanda]

This is such a Buttercup story. I'm not surprised that the percocious little angel tried to cut her own cucumber. I have a feeling she won't be using knives anytime soon.

[Kila]

Aww, I hope it heals quickly for her, and she remembers not to use sharp knives! My boys wouldn't leave them alone either until they were cut a few times. They also like to hide evidence.

[juicer]

Sweet little girl, reminds me of something goobie would do to. Look alike, act alike..

[nikk]

Oh goodness! Well I'm glad it wasn't too serious. Seeing my kids bleed makes my stomache cringe. Kevin does so much better in these situations.

[Willowtree]

That's one tough hombre.

[Robinella]

Oh my Goodness! What a sweetie pie! Glad she fessed up.

[Heather]

I remember once when my oldest daughter was less than two, she came sauntering into the living room carrying a big butcher knife. I kinda freaked out, but luckily, she hadn't managed to hurt herself. The same could not be said for the time she picked up my hot curling iron by the barrel!

[Pamela]

her mommy cut herself when the cantaloupe and a mommy knife was on the counter.

She required stitches.

[Mary]

Awww, poor baby! I hate those moments when you discover your child has hurt themself. Fortunately for me, the "hurt" part is always accompanied by yelling and screaming, and sometimes a loud crash.

I hope her finger heals quickly... I think she deserves a brand new box of band aids ;)

[john.g.]

Awww, poor thing, but as Beccy said, a lesson learnt!

[Tiggerlane]

Poor little thing - she is very brave not to have screamed immediately and come running, tho - must be a tough one!

Lesson learned, for TWO, I'm assuming....

[Shauna]

I'm glad Buttercup's finger wasn't any worse. . .Guess this is part of learning from mistakes. . . :)

[wolfbaby]

*smiles sheepishly*

thats right butter cup i can tell you from experience .. i did the same thing when i was a kid and actually managed to hide it from my mom and now have a really nasty scar on my flicker finger from doing it... it wouldn't be such a bad scar if i'd have gotten stiches like i shoulda...

i was trying to cut an apple :P