My Kryptonite

Let me begin this with the admission that I am not good with blood. I don't know when in my life I became so repulsed by the sight/smell (yes, I can honestly smell blood when I see it, ewe) of blood. Just typing this is making my stomach clench up and I am getting that gag feeling in my throat.

I broke my nose in 7th grade and I definitely think that having to hold my head up and blood flowing down the back of my throat had some negative effects on my ability to deal with blood. But I can't say that that moment sealed the deal on my inability to be around blood. I try hard to put on a tough persona when I HAVE to, but if I could I would run away and hide at the sight of blood.

That being said.....

These Korean kids get more bloody noses then a coke whore on a seven-day binge. I have never in my life seen or been around so many kids with bloody noses, on a regular basis. One girl, Claire, has had a bloody nose every day this week. I want to help them, my heart says to grab a tissue, (and a pair of latex gloves, a mask, an apron and a huge bottle of iodine) and plug up that nosebleed. But my stomach is warning me not to get close.

Daniel gave me a run for my money today.

Daniel is in first grade. I had him as a kindergartener last year. He is one of my favorites. He is just a very sweet little boy and I have a soft spot for him.

A few weekends ago, Joe and I were at an outdoor eating area in a bar. A white car pulled up on the street in front of us and a little boy shot out like a rocket. It was Daniel. He can running into the bar yelling my name.

"Ms. Stephanie, Ms. Stephanie!"

He gave me a big hug, chatted for a little bit then ran back to his mom's car.

Here are a few pictures of Daniel and I over the last few months;

As cute as he is, he almost killed me today! I didn't get hurt, he did! And in true little kid fashion he was unscathed and I had to sit down and catch MY breath. It was a traumatic experience.... for me. Like I said, the kid was FINE. 

Daniel was in my class. He was playing around with his pencil case and I asked him to put his pencil case away.

He grabbed his pencils and stood up in his chair.

In one quick swoop, he turned and tried to take a step. His food got caught in the chair leg of the seat next to him.

In slow motion, like a horror movie, he falls to the ground, 1,000,000 extra sharp pencils in his hand.

I stood up as soon as I saw him go down. I knew this wouldn't end well. For either of us.

Daniel hit the ground hard. With a loud thump and a crash of pencils spilling all across the floor.

From where I stood I could see it. A freaking pencil, sharp end first, was launched into his forehead. The freaking pencil was stuck into his head!

I was trying to be the responsible, cool under pressure, not freaking out in a time of crisis, adult. My heart was in my shoes, I couldn't breath. My face went white; I could feel my stomach do a summersault.

Daniel stood up. We stood there looking at each other. Him with a pencil launched into his forehead and me on the brink of a melt down. The pencil fell out of his head and hit the ground with a crash. A small bead of blood began to form in the middle of his forehead.

Catching my breath, I ask Daniel; "Are you okay?"

(You know that moment when a kid takes a big fall and you know if you freak out, they are going to freak out. But just maybe if you play it cool, they will play along with you and not have a nuclear meltdown. I was sure we had reached this point. It was my time to play it cool.)

Daniel looks at me with a confused face and reaches for his knee. Grabbing his knee, he rubs it, pulls up his pant leg and examines the invisible "ouches" he received from his huge fall. With a grimace on his face he says, "yes".

With eyes are big as dinner plates; I asked him if his head was okay.

"No, Daniel, (pointing to my head) is your head okay?"

Again Daniel looks at me and says;

"Yes, but my I have an ouchie on my leg"

I grab a wet wipe and slowly walk over to him to examine what I am sure is a huge pencil size hole in his head.

As I get closer, Daniel starts to laugh. And he even says, "I think my pencil when into my head"

I don't want him to freak out, like I am on the inside, so I say, "I don't know, let me look."

Sure enough the kid has a hole in his head, lucky for both of us, it’s only the size of the point of his pencil. I guess it didn't get launched in there as far as I had thought.

I put some pressure on his head with the wet wipe and had him sit down. That's when Joe walked in and I walked out. He said he heard the crash and saw my face through the glass wall and knew something was wrong. I needed some air and to wash my hands. 

I told the Korean staff to make a note of the accident. I am sure he will have a huge bruise on his forehead from the impact of the pencil. 

I was honestly not the same for the rest of the day. I couldn't shake the image of Daniel hitting the ground and then getting up with a freaking pencil sticking out of his head. My stomach was in knots and I would cringe every time I pictured poor Daniel falling.

Good news is Daniel is fine. And I didn't totally freak out.